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For further information or demonstration contact your nearest "Authorized AutoCAD Dealer" by contacting us at ... 136 BRIDE RD.. RICHMOND VICTORIA 3121 AUSTRALIA. .- PHONE: (03) 429 9888 TELEX: 30625 ME1400 The NCR PC8 Advanced Tech-, Houston Instruments have defined nology (AT) PC is an ideal CAD work- -the industry standard in low cost, high station with its 8 MHz 80286 quality plotting with its best selling, Al processor and native 640 by 400 size, 16 Os DMP-52 plotter. colour graphics.capability.

A,.gl'AD Is hyislC, Aukkiesk RC USA NCR PC.B.s a oa0lmne,k of NCR inc. DMP52 ve,lamsk 01 H01.9On k.squn,,ns USA lküueys por,d10 end ,epo0ureb by uno J Cohn eonenx,, t oECJIIVE OFFICE INTERIORS PTV LTC. IMdb) 1: EDITOR Jon Fairall B.A. CONTENTS ASSISTANT EDITOR Mary Rennie B.A. DECEMBER EDITORIAL STAFF S. K. Hui B.Sc. (lions), M.Eng.Sc. MIEEE, MIREE 1986 Terry Kee B.Sc. (lions), M. Phil. DRAUGHTING Bruce Mennie Electroni s DESIGNER Brian Jones ART STAFF Ray Elrth PRODUCTION Today1' Mark Moes ADVERTISING MANAGER FEATURES Peter Hayes B.Sc. VLSI ADVERTISING PRODUCTION device testing 28 Brett Baker The modern circuit has called for new ways of testing ACOUSTICAL CONSULTANTS Louis Challis and Associates Biochemical computer chips 30 RF CONSULTANTS Better prospects in their cultivation Associated Calibration Laboratories PUBLISHER Instrumenting with PCs Michael Hannan 32 Watch out test and measurement here PC! MANAGING EDITOR - comes the Leo Simpson B.Bus. Inside your computer HEAD OFFICE 64 180 Bourke Road, (PO Box 227, Waterloo, NSW The communications standard 2017) Alexandria. NSW 2015. Electronic India Phone: (02) 693-6666. 68 Telex: AÁ74488, FEDPUB. Where amateur radio flourishes Federal Facsimile: (02) 693-2842. ADVERTISING Signalling African history 72 New South Wales Verification of changes in the dark Mark Lewis (02) 693-6666 continent Victoria and Tasmania Virginia Salmon (03) 662-1222 South Australia 89 Queensland The technical state Peter Hayes (02) 693-6666 South Australia and Northern Territory Dane Hansen (08) 212-1212 Buyers guide to CD players . 95 Western Australia What's available and what to look for Estelle de San Miguel New Zealand John Easton, 79-6648 (Auckland) Racecam at the Indianapolis 500 104 OFFICES Exporting some ATN-7 technology New South Wales: The Federal Publishing Company, 180 Bourke Road, Alexandria, NSW 2015. Phone (02) 693-6666. Telex: AA74488 REVIEWS FEDPUB. Victoria and Tasmania: The Federal Publishing Testing speaker cable Does expensive speaker cable really work? 22 Company, 23rd Floor, 150 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, Vic. 3000. Phone: (03) 662-1222. Telex: ÁA34340, FEDPUB. Beat generation Casio RZ-1 sampling drum machine 82 South Australia and Northern Territory: John Fairfax & Sons, 101-105 Weymouth Street, Successful Impact Impact's Laser 400 printer 86 Adelaide, 5000. Phone (08) 212-1212. Telex: AA82930. Queensland: The Federal Publishing Company, 26 Chermside Street, Newstead, Old. 406. Phone: PROJECTS (07) 854-1119, Telex: M145520. Western Australia: Estelle de San Miguel, John ETI-283: Electronic lotto selector 39 Fairfax & Sons, 454 Murray Street, Perth, WA 6000. Phone: (09) 481-3171. Telex: AA92635 ETI-1533: 300 W switcher Part 2 46 New Zealand: 3rd Floor, Communications House, 12 Heather Street, Parnell, Auckland. PO Box 8770, Symonds St, 37-291. Telex N263122. Phone ETI-1616: 16-bit computer 54 79-6648 (Auckland). ETI-1407: Noise 44.0111111IW A reduction system 58

ELECTRONICS TODAY INTERNATIONAL is OFFERS published and distributed monthly by the Electronics Division of the Federal Publishing Toshiba/Goldring/ETI CD player competition 100 Company Pry Limited, 180 Bourke Road, Alexandra, NSW 2015 under licence from Double Subscriptions offer 106 Bay Newspapers Ply Limited, General Newspapers Pty Limited and Suburban Publications Pty Limited. Printed by Hannanpnnl. Sydney. Distnbuted by Magazine Promotions. 'Maximum and DEPARTMENTS recommended Australian retail price only. News Digest 6 Advertisers Index ' 9 Registered by Australia Post, Publication No NBP0407. ISSN No 0013-5216. Feed Forward 34 Dregs 110 COPYRIGHT° 1985, Double Bay Newspapers Ply Limbed, General Newspapers Pty Limited and Suburban Publications Ply Limited (trading as New Products 74 "Eastern Suburbs Newspapers"). COVER: Photography Peter Beattie, design Brian Jones. ETI December 1986 - 5 NEWS DIGEST Solar winners A group from the Joint Microelectronics Research Centre (JMRC) at the University of New South Wales, headed by Dr Martin Green, has announced the development of a solar cell with 19.1% efficiency. This significantly improves on the 11% to 13% efficiency typical of commercial cells. The news Is spectacular because the process that produced them is claimed to be commercially viable. The JMRC group first hit the the direct component of the news in October last year sun's radiation (typically when the team announced about three quarters of the the world's most efficient solar total). cell under unconcentrated Both systems are too ex- light. This glory had to be pensive for normal commer- shared a little later when a cial use. The Stanford model team from Stanford University has its price effectively set by developed a cell with an the sophisticated lensing and efficiency of 27.5%, but under seeking system. The high de- highly concentrated light. gree of purity required to The essence of the earlier achieve the JMRC result is JMRC development was to obtainable only at a price etch 10 µm grooves Into the too. However, there is great surface of the silicon. This interest in those cells for use in A high efficiency laser -grooved cell from the JMRC. increases the efficiency of the concentrated systems. cell by reducing the reflection The JMRC team has spent of Incidence light. this year looking at ways of lar's production line. Their pro- silicon surface. BP Solar is At Stanford, a system of making their ideas work in less cess uses a laser to cut very moving towards mass pro- fresnel lenses was used to expensive materials - the narrow and deep slots in the duction of these laser - focus the sun's rays on the types that are used in normal silicon which are then plated grooved solar cells and pilot active surface. However, this production. They have been full of copper. This results in a production should begin next system requires a sun -seeking working with standard highly conductive metal grid year. active lens and can only use substrates taken from BP So - that obscures only 2% of the

Wiring the CBD

Melbourne's Central Business District telecommunications system will be able to transmit more information at greater speed because of the replacement of the existing copper cable network with fibre optics. Olex Cables has won a bid to supply Telecom with 44 kilometres of optical fibre cable for the new system. It's currently being installed in existing cable ducts. Manager of Olex's Fibre Op- tics Division, Mr Brian Wright, says the new system will give Melbourne's CBD a long over- A optical fibre cable used by Telecom for the Melbourne CBD telecommunications project. due, high -quality commun- sample of the Olex ications system. "The fibre op- "It will also allow Telecom to 30 -fibre cable with some sec- The fibre -optic network is tic cable network will allow for develop engineering exper- tions of 12 -fibre and 60 -fibre being installed alongside high-speed, high -quality infor- tise in working with optical cable. The cable sheath is existing copper cables, and mation transmission and will fibre cable distribution, constructed of polyethylene will run In a loop through the give Telecom a strategic pres- wideband office networks and and is filled with Jelly. Each Batman, Lonsdale, Exhibition ence In optical fibre wideband switching sys- fibre used inside a building and Russell Street exchanges. wideband networks and tems," Mr Wright said. will also have a flame- Olex will supply 95% of the switching systems in Mel- The multimode optical fibre retardant coating for safety fibre needed for the project. bourne's CBD. network consists mainly of purposes. Total cost is $440,000. 6 - ETI December 1986 .t

Studying the greenhouse -

Scientists have long known that sounding rockets, balloons and the atmosphere acts as a satellites. However, the studies .4= greenhouse, letting in sunlight have been limited by incom- V" s and preventing much of the plete coverage and sporadic i heat from escaping. The green- observations. ! house effect has been expand- Now NASA is starting to see : r` -. ing for the past 50 years and will results from some long term o Increase with the continued use satellite studies. Preliminary data _ -.oJ of fossil fuels that release carbon from NASA's Earth Radiation dioxide into the atmosphere, Budget Experiment (ERBE) sug- blocking heat from escaping to gests that clouds reflect more space. heat than they retain. Clouds , 40....1111 The anticipated change in the appear to cool Earth's climate, greenhouse effect '' caused by In- possibly offsetting the at- creased carbon dioxide is less mospheric greenhouse effect. than about 1 per cent. Scientists The ERBE instruments measure believe that even this small Earth's heat budget, the amount amount of change will be signifi- of sunlight that reaches and is cant and could be associated absorbed by Earth and the with droughts and rising sea lev- amount of energy radiated polar orbit in December 1984. A measurements of reflected solar els. However, reliable estimates back to space. Even small third ERBE package is scheduled energy and longwave measure- of how the Earth's climate will be changes in any component of to be sent into polar orbit ments of Earth -emitted energy. altered by the greenhouse ef- the budget can have important aboard the NOAA-G satellite two wide fect are not yet possible. effects on weather and climate. later this year. The non -scanner has field -of -view sensors that view Winds and ocean currents are The instrument's accuracy in The ERBE instruments measure another important influence on identifying clouds and clear the average monthly heat the entire disc of Earth from limb to limb, two medium field -of - the Earth's climate because they parts of the atmosphere is help- budget on regional, zonal and are closely related to the flow of ing to resolve many scientific global scales, track the view sensors that view a of Earth and energy from the sun to the Earth questions about the future of seasonal movement of heat 10 -degree region solar monitor that measures and space. Some scientists think Earth's climate. from the tropics to the poles and a the total of the sun's rad- that changing cloud patterns ERBE is a three -satellite project determine the average daily output will alter the energy flow and in- that began in October 1984, variation in heat on a 620 -mile iant energy. fluence the amount of heat when ERBS was deployed into or- regional and a monthly scale. For the next several years, a stored in the ocean, thereby bit from the shuttle, Challenger. Each ERBE package contains team of scientists from around modifying the movement of A second ERBE instrument two radiometer instruments the world will continue to exa- heat from one part of the ocean package is aboard NOAA-F, a called a scanner and a non - mine ERBE data in an attempt to to another. National Oceanic and At- scanner. The scanner is a narrow improve understanding of the Earth's energy budget has mospheric Administration field -of -view scanning radio- global heat flows that interact to been studied for decades with weather satellite launched into meter that makes shortwave keep Earth's climate in balance.

BWD spreads ETI schools competition Corporate Development, part lar emphasis on manufac- The final judging of the ETI schools in Australia and 35 in of the BWD industries group, turing for both the Australian take New have has formed a joint venture and export markets. schools competition will Zealand entered place mid November and win- the contest. Full details of the with the Queensland Industry It is that Intended Queens- ning schools will be notified. competition winners will ap- Development Corporation land Corporate Development One hundred and five pear In February ETI. (QIDC), aimed at assisting the will take equity positions In development of high tech- such companies with the full nology companies In Queens- agreement of the present pro- land. prietors. The joint venture will Both the QIDC and Corpor- otter further technological, Engineers richest graduates ate Development will have manufacturing, marketing equal representation on the and financial expertise and According to a study by The average engineer starts board of the new joint venture facilities. Jenny Baldwin of Monash Uni- on $22,000. Law graduates company to be named The QIDC hopes to play an versity, graduate engineers can expect around $21k, Queensland Corporate De- active part in the develop- are now top of the money while computer grads may velopment. ment of technology -based in- making stakes, beating law- have to do with a measly The purpose of the joint dustries in Queensland by yers, computer scientists and $20k. venture Is to identify small to adding further employment, other high status profes- The good news for those medium companies in Investment and export oppor- sionals. who believe there are for too Queensland which have the tunities. Given the current par- The study looked at the many accountants In the potential to be further devel- lous state of the Queensland average salaries earned by country already Is that they oped In the various fields of economy, such develop- graduates In their first jobs. must make do with $19k. high technology, with particu- ments are sorely needed. ETI December 1986 - 7 Oi tútúi i . Orf Gfcin r on n r u Ya 3211' ,I 'icÍ1

- Sound facts ' detail. Ortofon have always transient reproduction - right dedicated themselves to down to the very last detail. pursuing the world's finest As if that wasn't enough, the sound reproduction. VMS also reduced sensitivity So when -theydiscovered to hum pick-up and minimized that the existing moving distortion and non -linearity magnetic systems missed much in the magnetic system. of the sound detail, they did Presumably, the cost about it. Symmetrical flux fields with the armature in the central (neutral) position. of an Ortofon VMS Magnetic something These flux fields emanate from the magnet positioned in front of the pole pins As the fields are in balance, there are no changes in flux around and They designed, developed inside the coils Therefore, no voltage is generated. Cartridge would be high. and patented a new cartridge Surprisingly, it's not. principle that could pick In fact, it's especially affordable. up as much detail as Check the facts on the //l/hl fi%ti possible, accurately, from VMS 10E MK II, 20E MK II the record groove. and 30 MK II at your hi-fi (Of course, as one of the or Ortofon dealer. t, recognized world leaders in .__11%NJ .. And while you're there, find sound reproduction, Ortofon out how to home -test your were well -qualified in this area.) stereo equipment with the When the cantilever moves the armature is brought closer to the ring magnet They called it the and acts as a shunt. short-circuiting part of the magnetic field. As a result. Ortofon Pick-up Test Record. the flux field in front of the pole pins varies and a voltage is generated VMS Principle. in the coils It's another sound fact The VMS Principle (Variable in Typical frequency response (VMS 30 MK I) detail. Magnetic Shunt) utilizes a light 50 25 dB dB tubular armature of magnetic 40 20 Distributed by: conducting material. Scan Audio Pty. Ltd. This is attached to the 30 15 52 Crown Street, 10 20 Hz 50 100 200 500 1000 2000 20,000 cantilever and encircled Technical data VMS 30 MK II Richmond, Vic. 3121 by a powerful ring magnet. Weight 5 g Melbourne: 429 2199 Type of stylus Fine line When the cantilever moves the Equivalent stylus tip mass 0.45 mg Sydney: 8712854 Frequency response 20-20,000 Hz armature closer to the ring Output voltage at 1000 Hz per 5 cm/sec. 5 mV Brisbane: 57 7433 Channel separation at 1000 Hz 21 dB Perth: 3615422 magnet, the armature short- Channel balance at 1000 Hz 2 dB Compliance static, vertical 28 pm/mN circuits part of the magnetic Compliance dynamic, lateral (10 Hz) 22 pm/mN Recommended tracking force 13 mN (1.3 g) field, generating a voltage Tracking force range 10-16 mN (1.0-1.6 g) Tracking ability at 315 Hz lateral 90 pm in the coils. Vertical tracking angle 20° is FIM distortion 1% (13 mN) And the result an increased DC resistance 800 ohm Inductance 600 mH orrofon high frequency tracking ability, Recommended load resistance 47 kohm low distortion and superb Recommended load capacitance 400 pF accuracy in sound 0036 Truscotts ADVERTISERS' Believe INDEX 17_1:),J ONIC TD it or not* Audio Engineers 100 Australian School of For all your components! Electronics 102 Test gear, data books. your Huge range of active Baltec Systems 88 and passive components. CD player Bose 17,71 FLUKE Multimeters Control Data 101 Amidon Ferrite Products will sound Convoy 25 Are you pulling out your Crusader Electronics IFC,3 hair trying to find parts even better for the PLAYMASTER Diamond Systems 88 AM/FM tuner kits??? with Disco World 94 Give us a call! We have most DuPont 109 parts (incl. semi's) in stock. 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ETI December 1986 - 9 NEWS DIGEST

Icy hot line Recently a PABX system left Philips' plant at Moorebank NSW on a long migration south. The Philips DLS11OS was headed for the Department of Science centre at Kingston, Tasmania to be shipped to the F Australian research station at Davis, in the Antarctic. An essential piece in the Davis station upgrading of -5. local telephone and inter- 1'áv, national communications, the DLS1105 will be linked by satellite with the Antarctic Div- .` ision's PABX back at . Yak Kingston - which is a Philips D1200. t Peter Magill, communica- >< S tions engineer with the De- partment of Science, explains '40 that the Davis PABX will have 50 extensions with one tie-line to Kingston. "Because the Davis winter _ ..-x'. complement of 22 rises to 50 or 60 during summer," says ^ Peter Magill, "we have allowed for expansion of the tie - ., line facility as traffic requires." er_ "_

v +. ..-. A. :' ,7.t. , Government *-si !r.s` purchases . aid a ,.y-`M exports 1111,544Z:Y Recommendations for a more 1 - dynamic approach to pur- 1.14,017 chasing by the government, in order to help Australian firms open up new opportuni- t ties in international markets, r have been put to the Com- mittee of Review on Govern- +J ment High Technology Pur- ,>: chasing Arrangements. " t -' The proposals were ad- The Davis Antarctic Station where the Philips system is headed. vanced In a joint submission by the Department of Industry, to full tendering as a general local industry strategic re- technology Australian pro- Technology and Commerce rule In high technology pur- search and development ac- ducts with international mar- and the Department of Local chases, to reduce industry's tivities arising out of the ket potential to prove the Government and Administrat- costs In responding to ten- Government's high tech- performance of local pro- ive Services. ders; nology needs; this would ducts. Major recommendations in measure's to streamline and effectively redirect to the ex- The proposed initiatives the submission are: improve purchasing proce- tent of $50 million over five would have significant impact more widespread use of dures to facilitate local indus- years the research and devel- on those high technology In- investment analysis (includ- try's competitive entry into opment component of exist- dustries most involved In sup- ing risk analysis) in high tech- government markets; ing high technology pur- plying the Government's nology purchasing to assess forward procurement plan- chases by the Common- needs. These include com- the potential costs and ning and regular briefing wealth, to the benefit of local munications equipment, benefits of undertaking pro- sessions by government industry; computer hardware and soft- duct development as op- agencies to Inform com- a $5 million fund to facilitate ware, micro -electronics and posed to direct purchase; panies of the government's the trial and demonstration electronic components, aero- the seeking of expressions future needs; within government depart- space and scientific and of interest before proceeding a program to contract to ments and authorities of high medical equipment. 10 - ETI December 1986 NEWS DIGEST

Receiver station have been sharply cur- specs for The space station tailed. The European Space TV Agency and Japan were to planning The US House of Representat- have supplied pressurized ives has earmarked $7.7b this laboratories for the twin keel. A specification issued recently draft standard would be avail- financial year for NASA to Now both orders have been setting out performance levels able in 1987. begin work on the space delayed until the middle of for household television One section of the specifica- station. the next decade, at the receivers is believed to be only tion notes that planning of tele- But NASA's plans have been earliest. the second of its kind de- vision services can only proceed cut back in view of the Chal- Only the Canadian contri- veloped in the world. on the universal availability of lenger disaster to allow for bution remains. The The document specifies the UHF and VHF tuning facilities. construction of a station that Canadians are building the performance levels of a typical "The UHF band is being used can be built with fewer trips remote manipulators that will domestic television receiver and more and more for television into space and less money crawl along the keel and do antenna in Australia. services around Australia and it from the government. the heavy moving and lifting. The Department of Commun- will be in everyone's interest for Original plans called for a Canada has specific exper- ications has developed the manufacturers and importers to 'twin keeled' structure rather tise for the job, developed in document in consultation with cease putting VHF -only sets on like a cube, with living quar- work on the space shuttle manufacturing and broadcast- the market," Mr Duffy said. ters and laboratories at each manipulator arm. ing industry bodies. "Buyers of television receivers vertex. This structure has been According to James The specification is only ad- should be aware that although cut In half to the so-called Fletcher, NASA's adminis- visory but is expected to be a VHF -only sets are a little cheap- 'single keeled' option, so that trator, constructing the space strong inducement to manufac- er, they are certainly not getting it now consists of a long station will take only 31 shuttle turers to observe specified per- a bargain." boom, with pressurized mod- flights. The first construction formance levels and thus bring The Minister said it was ules at either end, and solar crew will go up in 1993. By the about valuable improvements noteworthy that to the Depart- panels, antennae and various fifth mission the keel will be in receiver quality, DOC Minister ment's knowledge, no other non -pressurized experimental laid out, and by the eighth, in Michael Duffy said. country in the world apart from packages either bolted to the mid -1994, both pressurized The Minister said that the data West Germany had produced keel or attached to outrig- modules will be ready for gathered for the specification such a specification. gers. work. The rest of the trips will may be used as input for the Copies of it are available from One consequence of the be for lifting scientific and eventual development of a tel- Department of Communications moves is that plans to military payloads up to the evision receiver performance offices in all States, the Northern internationalize the space station. standard. It was hoped that a Territory and the ACT.

NEW FACES able young lad he decided to dedicate all his life to finding out about these things. Months later, Terry surfaced In England, studying young girls, resistors and mysterious hums for all he HOW TO FIND was worth. And our Terry was no slug- gard. Before you could say ELECTRONIC 'Bob's yer Uncle', there he was, with a Masters degree and the whole world his oyster. This being the case INSPIRATION he burled himself In the BBC, where they eat young engineers for breakfast. But something was miss- The very best jobs for Electronic This month we welcome a ing. The problem was the new staff member, Terry Engineers and Technicians can only be Jack sun, or lack of It. Confronting found Kee. Terry was born and the tube on yet another grey with the very best recruitment raised on a plantation in the day, (more poetic writing) consultancy - QANTUM. wilds of Africa. One day, he decided to go find a bit of Talk to Ron while caught between lion Crause on (02) 922 7900, a warmth, so he rode right on for details of the most and a rampaging bull eleph- down to the airport and exciting career ant he saw a lissom young fronted the nice lady in the opportunities around. native girl with resistors ticket office, who tried to sell hanging from her ears sing- him a ticket to Vienna. But he LEVEL 4 90 MOUNT STREET NORTH SYDNEY NSW 2060 ing a strange and evocative knew what he wanted, and lullaby as she swayed next day came flying across the veldt. (Heavy through the window at ETI, duty poetic writing from the where he landed on the ed). editor's desk and said: "hire QANTUM Being but an impression- me". I ETI December 1986 - 11 FREE POSTAGE FOR ALL ORDERS OVER $75 & UNDER 3KG!!

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Light and easy to handle ti 7H9a Normally open tamper switch. control system with MAGNIFIER WITH LAMP earth electrical systems Electronic with touch switch and Nock for / Dimensions: 145 a 100 0 37mm Absolutely perfect for close up Speedo: 0. 199kph powerful m-0udt 10040 alarm contraqus running High torque ACP3 compatible Changeable 3 digit. push button. world Intricate PCB's, protects, etc , Tachometer: 0 - 9900kph motor. 10,000 R.P.M. Can doll 2mm METEX 3800 secret code controller that is tamper 0311 be a breeze under dxs superb, Speed alert: 40 - 120kph Cat A13014 R.R.P. 579.95 holes in steel. 2 year guarantee proof. 3 function switch provides off MULTIMETER adjustable magnifying lamp. Complete with rnounk g hardware SPECIAL, ONLY $69.95 Contents: This Instrument is a compact. Magnates 1.75 times position, chime and 7 seconds delay Cal. A15064 R.R.P. $89.95 entry. 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It is an instrument for use in the held, laboratory, worhutop. hobby and tome applications. Features... Push -Raton OWOFF power switch Single 30 position easy to use rotary switch for FUNCTION and PASSIVE INFRA RED RANGE selection. DETECTOR 12" high contrast LCD. Compact P.I.R. with adjustable PIEZO SIREN Automatic over -range indication corner or wall mounting bracket, with the "1" displayed. 4 piece units In a nigh Impact dual pyroelectric Infra red sensing Automatic polarity indication on plastic cabinet element graos a coverage 2 a 14 DC ranges. Input 120 DC 200mA 12V Zones 2m high and 10en wide. All ranges fully protected plus STROBE LIGHTS Output 115dB al t m, dual tone Available In 3 colours. red, blue and Sensihvhy adjustment control Automatic "ZERO' of all ranges Compact sire 105 x 85 x 45mm These have a magnetic Detecting range 12-15 metres at w,ttwt short arcuit except 200 ohm yellow. units Smart design suits interior use base and are fined with 4 metres of 90 degrees Range which shows '000 or 001'. Cat. 515071 523.95 cable terminating in a cigarette Detecting rases 9 long (up), FREE STANDING, FOLD High Surge Voltage protection 1.5 KV -3 KV. lighter plug Ideal for displays. S snort (down) UP MAGNIFIER Panes. attention getting, motoring LED indicator for walk test. (can be Diode testing with 1 mA heed emergencies/breakdowns etc.. disabled) M eccororrvcaly priced hands tree' current. Shielded against RF Interference magnrtier, lets you lake care of all Audible Continuity Test Ca1.No. Descrption Price Relay output NC or NO at 30V those tricky fine detailed ohs so Transistor hFE Test. or A15046 Blue 532.95 (AC -DC) 0 5A max. often encountered in electronics. SPECIFICATIONS MINI CASE Integral NC tamper switch any of many other practical uses Maximum Display: 1999 counts A15047 Red $32.95 UTILITY such as home, work hobbles etc. a plastic lid tot instant Operating voltage 10.5. 16V DC 312 digit type with automatic 615045 Amber 532.95 Features clear inspection o1 contents Up to Me, Current 2OmA with LED 25mA Cat. T12083 $14.95 polarity indication. adjustable lower compartments. $145 Indication Method: LCD display. plus a self elevating upper tray lot Measuring Method: Dualslopein smaller Berra. A -D converter system, Dimensions: 110 0 2100 43mm. Ideal Over -range Indication: "1" Figure as only in the display. Cat. H10087 $7.95 Great Christm Temperature Ranges: Operating 0C to +40'C Power Supply: one 9 volt battery or FC 1 type of equ'ealenl) Ideal r (006P Ch ristmas Cat. 091530 Normally 599.95 BREADBOARD SPECIAL $89.95 SPECIALS Why pay more? PROGRAMMABLE CetP1 t000100 holes 52.75 RACK CASE 24 HOUR TIME SWITCH Ca1911005 640 holes 510.75 RITRON 19" 48 senKtung possibilities per day Value! Dimensions Cat.P11007 640+100 holes $13.00 Tremendous 240V AC. 2400 wan, 10 amp 4801W 1 e 134(H) a 2501D)mm. Cat.P11009 640+200 holes 517.50 Suitable for turning on . H10415 Normally 547.95 CaLP110101280+100 holes 519.95 Cat. Heaters.Coolers pool filter holes $32.50 SPECIAL, ONLY $42.95 Ideal Cat. P11011 1290+300 electric blankets Cat Pl t 0121280+400 holes 536.75 Greatsristrnas cooking appliances CORDLESS Cat P110151920+ 500 notes 557.50 wakeng you, even making the pollee' Gre Cat.Pt 1018 2560+700 holes 564.95 lights etc for security while you're RECHARGEABLE nice away from borne! SOLDERING IRON Bargain Price! Built in solder point Illumination Cat M22002 only $19.95 R17RON KEYL ESS Easy replacement of solder tip POWERFULL MINI DRILL Protective stand which also Featuring a powerful 6000 r p.m. CAR ALARM funclans as charging unit METEX 3530 motor, this lightweight (113gm) doll The first shipment sold Out Spongepad attach to stand immediately to the trade. They didn't MULTIMETER Is ideal for many jobs Perfect for Plu g power adaptor instrument reach our own retail stores! This is a compact. PCB work) Has a 0.8 to 1.2mm Includes Wad battery rugged, battery operated. hand held chuck and tmm drill bit. Activated and disarmed by Instrucnion manual ignition key.so yes never lager 3 2 digit mulfteneter for measuring Requires 12V 1 AMP.(use wet 12 months warranty DC and AC voltage, DC and AC M190t0) to turn 1 on. in or Cal. 112480 Normally $79.95 current. Resistance and Diode, Cat. T12302 517.95 Muni -function, built siren external siren, car signal horn SPECIAL, 569.95 Capacitance, Transistor hFE and output Continuity Test. The Dual slope A-0 Easy to install, no door Convener uses C-MOS technology switch required for auto -zeroing. polarity selection Automatic reset after 60 and Over -range indication. Full seconds overload Is provided. It Is an ideal *14-1:;` lavods noise pollution) Instrument for use In the field, PC BOARD HOLDER laboratory, workshop, hobby and than an extra pair of hands! lOW HORN SPEAKERS Special sensor protects Stereo Better home applications. A must for all PCB work. White durable plastic. 8 ohms or CB. 12V DC Feature... Cad. T12444 59.95 Cat. C12010 Normally 511.95 Cat. S15054 Normally 539.95 Push-button OMOFF power switch TRANSISTOR NIPPERS SPECIAL, ONLY $9.95 Single 30 posilon easy to use Normally $13.951 NOW $29.95 rotary switch for FUNCTION and Cat.112070 $11.95 RANGE selection. MICRO NIPPERS WELLER WTCPN t2" high contrast LCD. Normally $13.95 A ornabc over -range indication Cal.712050 511.95 SOLDERING STATION with the "1' displayed. The WTCPN Features Automatic polarity Indication on Power Unit 240 V AC DC ranges cr Temperature controlled Won, All ranges lul1y protected plus :,.\. 24V AC Automatic 'ZERO' of all ranges ARLEC SECURITY BEAM Flexible silicon lead for ease of althea start arcve except200onm This compact secialty system use Range which shows '000 or 001', HIGH EFFICIENCY transmits an Iinsihle, nnodutated Can be left on without leas of High Surge Voltage protection beam of infrared light which can be damaged tips! 1 5 KV-3 KV. RADIAL FIN HEATSINK is worth having. directed across a doorway, path at The best always Capacitance measurements to 1 pF Black anodised wlh a took base be monitored. Anyone Diode 1 this radial tin heatsrnk can any other tO PANEL METERS Cat T12500 ... R.R.P.$149 tesog with mA fixed plate, walking through the beam large amounts of heat for 5129 current dissipate immediately causes an audible GALORE! SPECIAL, ONLY Audible Continuity Test maximum efficiency. Designed by a great range o1 panel warning to sound Sellable for We have Transistor hFE Test. Rod lrvmg meters at great Priced shops, homes. factories etc. Price SPECIFICATIONS Cat. H10520 3.50 FEATURES: Cat. No. Description 105x3Omm $ BRAND NEW FANS 12.50 Maximum Display. 1999 counts Oualiry, fans for use in power Small compact design 010500 MU450-1mA 105x75mm Cat H10525 S 3.50 MU45 50-0l50uA 12.50 312 dgn type with automatic amps compeers hotspot inolmg etc Infrared modulated beam 010502 polarity indication MUSS 0.100.1A 12.50 lO5xtOomm cam, 0529 $ 4.90 Anywhere you need plenty pl or. Prismatic reflector allows up to 010504 Indication Method: LCD display. 010510 MU45 0-5A 12.50 t05xt40rnmCat. H10534 S 6.50 240V 4843' Cal. 112461 514.95 10% msalgnment OIAEc4rPGRT Measuring Method: Dual slope in Effective metres 010518 MUSS 0-1A 12.50 115V 45,3' Ca1.112463 $14.95 12.50 A.D converter system. 105x150mmCat H10535 5 6.75 Low wattage (9V) 010520 MU45 0-1A Over range Indication: "1' Figure H10538 7.95 240V 312' Cat. T12465 $14.95 S.E.C. approved adaptor 010525 MU45 0200 12.50 105x17omm Cat 5 14.50 ANTISTATIC only In the display. Negligible power consummmn 010530 MU52E 0-1A perahlre Ranges: Operating 105x t 95mmCat. H10542 S 9.90 115V 31/2" Cat. 112467 514.95 MU52E 0-5A 14.50 SUCKER Simplified wiring 010533 SOLDER 0C to +40'0 t05x200mm Cat. H10543 $ 9.90 toe lane (m/eed) only $10 each! Solid state electronic circuitry 010535 MU45 VU PMetre 14.95 ht weight 16.95 Power Supply: one 9 volt battery Produces audible warning MUSS 0-50uA IS urdy t05x225mm H10546 010538 crosiriitan (006P or FC-t Type of equivalent) Cat $10.50 FAN GUARDS TO SUIT 010540 MU650-1mA 16.95 Easy to remove tip Easy Installation Normally tosx300rnenCat.H10549 512.00 4545' Cat. T12471 $3.95 12 months guarantee 010550 MUSS 0-100uA 16.95 Excellent value lee money) Cat. 091540 5129 MUSS 0-20V 16.95 105x600mm Cal. H10560 524.95 312" Cat T12475 53.95 Cal. 615060 589.95 010560 Cat P1128! ...... _.___.._. $13.95 SPECIAL $119 FREE POSTAGE FOR ALL ORDERS OVER $75 & UNDER 3KG!! FREE POSTAGE FOR ALL ORDERS OVER $75 & UNDER 3KG''''

NICADS! .--1 3 Save fortune on expensive mela throw away banenee Ihta Christmas with thew quality l7is 9 álERRy CH9914P? Meads and Rachargers! Al FROM ROD tRVrNG 0 EI.ECtRoNICSi! 'SNAP TOGETHER" PUSH BUTTON PLASTIC CASE DIALLERS Top and bottom sandy NICADSI snap Tired of old Cashion dialling and together (no screws required), 4 Size Desc. 1-9 10+ 100+ re -dialling engaged front numbers? remvable and back panels. These convenient button Size: AA 0.5 4.11. $2.50 52.25 $1.95 push 1861W) x 1251°)x 501HImm diallers include last number radial C 1.2 A.H. 57.95 56.50 56.25 Cat. 1110116 57.95 (up to 16 ages) and instructions for D 12 AH. 57.95 56.50 56.25 an easy changeover.

Cat. A12030 . NORMALLY $19.95 SPECIAL, ONLY HIGH INTENSITY $14.95 ALPHANUMERIC RED DISPLAY W'S BELL WIRE Interlockable 2- display module with Red and white twesled 35 hgh mtensety, Soler Owls per Conductors: 2e 1 strand0.t7mm e module allowtrg vast scope for 1 y Sheath:OA. 2 a 1.35mm wstom aspays "º -ét. Cat, w r l Brightness: 3000 ucd. I 10mA ' 1-9 rolls 10+ rolls PIN 1 Row 5A PINE Row 3A 519.00/m 517.50/m PIN2Row7A PINE Row IA 1 1 PIN 3 Col. 2C PIN 10 Col. IC _ PIN 4 Coe 3C PIN 11 Col .3C TELEPHONE PIN 5 Row 4A PIN 12 Row 4A UNIVERSAL BATTERY PIN 6 Ca. 5C PIN 13 COL IC CHARGER AND EXTENSION CABLE UNIT TESTER Allows PIN 7 Row 6A PIN 14 Flow 2A Save money on expensive batteries 15 metres of telephone Cat NO. 1-9 wlih this universal battery extension cable to be neatly wound 10+ charger. into Features Include meter tester, and a prOtable storage container. Z10196 57.95 56.95 The reel sits flat s provisions for D, C. AA. AAA. N, one base and has a handle wind boner and cell bananas, 9V and 6V to cable back on to 0 after (square types). Comes complete use. No tangles no mess( with detailed instructions Ideal for the workshop. around the house, office, pool etc. Cal. M23533 529.95 Cat Y16013 524.95

GI CI

1h" HIGH IC SPECIALS! INTENSITY 1717-104C1«"4PP5lfF 1-9 10a 100+ RED LED DISPLAYS SPEECH SYNTHESISER 5558pire050 0.40 0.35 (Available In Common Cathode 4116 53 95 $3.75 53.50 and Common Anode) CHIPS! 4164 53.95 53.75 53.50 Speech SP0256AAL2: synthesiser 2716 58.90 58.50 58 30 Dimensions: chip, needs programming to work Overall: 12.7mm across. 19mm high 2732 58 25 $7.95 $7.50 Display. 12 7m111(H) x 7.3mnifW) 516.95 2764 $6 25 55.95 55.00 ECONOMY Segment Width 12mm DELUXE UNIVERSAL C7S256-AL2: Contains the code 27128 56 95 56,50 5625 6116 Brghtness: 3400 ucd. IF - lOerA BATTERY CHARGER recogndivn Clrcaat to enable the $2.95 $2.75 52.50 TRANSFORMERS 41256 1-9 10+ AND protect lo plug deectly on the pnntee $5.95 55,50 54.95 COMMON CATHODE: TESTER 6264 56.50 55 50 5525 2155240V 6-15V to Pin l SegmentE Rh 6 Segment Save money en expensive Ideal port, or into an IBM PC. batteries Christmas 27256 511.50 510 50 510.00 Cal. M12155 59.95 58.95 Pen Segment Pin 7 Segment o with this universal battery charger. Great 2156 240V 6.15V 2A Pin3CC Pin 8CC Features include meter tester, and A SET OF EACH . 544.95 WORLD MODEM CHIP Cat. M12156 514.95 513.95 Pena Segment Pin 9 Segment F provisions for up 10 8 pieces of any Cat U21614 Normally 549.50 Pen 5 Segment Cp Pin 10 Segment size, (D. C. AA or AAA type batteries) 2840 240V 9V G Save S20, SPECIAL $24.95 CT al once, plus positions for a button Cal. M12840 Cat.No. 1-9 10+ 55.95 54.95 and cell battery. Two times 9V. and MEL9501 Z10190 2851 240V 12-6V CT t 50mA 51.95 51.75 one times N type bananas. Have you blown up your Apple drive Cal. M12851 55.95 55.50 Recharging lead web alligator clips. by plugging din backwards or not 9V clip and 4 -way Select tumtng on the power while charging 2860 240V 15V CT 250mA COMMON ANODE: criversal. currents from 2.5-3V 15OmA, Scuds, We have the MEL9501 chip' Cat. M12860 55.95 54.95 Pint Segment E Pen 6 Segment B Pin 2 Pen 12-1.5V 8OmA 1.2.1.5V 25mA. SPECIAL, 6672240V Segment D 7 Segment A ONLY 529.95 1530V 1A tapped Pen3CA Pin 8CA 6-9V 14mA. 12V SOmA Includes Cat. M16672 514.95 513.95 Pin Segment Pin 9SegrnentF detailed Instructions. RECHARGEABLE IC STORAGE CASE Pin 5 Segment DpPtn 10 Segment G Cal. M23535 539.95 LANTERN Electro static charge proof plastic Cat.No. 1-9 10+ Up to 1.000 recharges IC case with conductive sponge. 210191 51.95 51.75 No more expansive batteries Dimensans: 75 a 130 a 19mm Beam length 1.050 feet Cat 1110095 58.95 waw.ria Cannot be over charged 11= é! Shoulder strap included i-'- 240V charge Wad connects direct MIC ELECTRET DIRECT IMPORT! I 2 Car egetter recharging lead INSERTS Ideal for campnd. travel, boating etc] With pens for easy board Insertion. Red safety shade cover Rod Irving Electronic Cat C10170 Cat A15053 -.. only 529.95 48 A Beckett SI, MELBOURNE 1+ 10+ 100+ HIGH INTENSITY RED Phone (03)663 6151 $1.95 51.70 51.50 LED BAR GRAPH CANNON TYPE Dimensions: 425 Mole St, NORTHCOTE CONNECTORS Phone (03) 489 8866 Overall: 63mm across- 5mm high. Cat, No. Description Price Ideal TEXTOOL SOCKETS s. LEDs: 109 5mm a 1 mm Mall Order and Correspondence: P10960 3 pin knit male. Great Christmas P17016 16 pin 514.50 Cat.No. 1-9 10+ P.O. Boa 620, CLAYTON 3168 Was 53.90 NOW P1702124 pin S14.50 i t 210180 52.95 S2.75 52.90 Telex: AA 151938 P10962 3 pin chasis male P17028 28 pen 519.50 Was 13.00 NOW 52.40 P17040 40 pin 522.50 P10964 3 pm line female Was $4.50 NOW 53.25 RECHARGEABLE P10966 3 pin chasis female FLASH LIGHT Was 54.95 NOW 53.45 Up to 1.000 recharges éal No ledge eepenvve batteries MAUL ORDER HOTLINE HOOK UP WIRE ld Beam range 150 metres 008 335757 Cat. No. Description I ,t5ri5tmas r Size: 1601LI x 601W) a 601H1, W11251 13/.12 TND TOLL FREE( BLK Wetgrtt: 40 gram W11252 13/.12 TLD BROWN FERRITE AERIAL ROD (STRICTLY ORDERS ONLY( Sh co der strap i luded W1125313/.12 200mm a 9mm 110 ORANGE Greaf To recharge semply unclip the W11254 13/.12 LOCAL ORDERS TLD YELLOW UNIVERSAL CaL 111401 Normally $2.75 handle which rrnttarrts the power W11255 13/.12 TLD GREEN SOLDERING & INQUIRIES IRON SPECIAL, ONLY 51.50 pack and plug directly into a 240V W11256 13/12 TLD BLUE STAND power (031 543 7877 W11257 13/.t2 Cat. T11302 point TLD WHITE 55.95 c hargmg terse, to flours PRICES PER METRE appro. POSTAGE RATES: 100 ROLL (when luny deschargedl 1-9 51 59.99 10+ Operating orne approx 80 minutes $2.00 -16-:95 S67dB (when fully 510 524.99 53.00 charged) ANTI GLARE SCREEN 525 549.99 Output/Bulb 2.4V 54.00 55.35 54.50 Neff the price of other brands'? 550 599.99 55.00 Cat A15052 __....only 515.95 Relieve eye strain and headaches 5100 - 5199 57.50 W 11260 14/20 RED and Increase productwrty with these 5200 - 5499 510.00 W11261 14/20 BLACK or Anti Glare Screens. Suitable for 12- 5500 pits 512 50 W11265 14/ 20 BLUE rv,vJirome and colour monitors FREE POSTAGE FOR ORDERS W11268 14/20 W RITE Cal X99995 524.95 OVER 575 a UNDER 36011 PRICES PER 100 METRE ROLL Ideal Great Christmas The 1-9 10+ POT CORES above postage rates are for basic postage only. Road Freight, .5-1-19o- .creeQ F02242 Assembly. bulky and 2 halves. 36mm Ideal MgIle hems will be 510.80 59.00 diameter charged at different rates. SOLDER ROLLS 112100 59.95 Great Christmas Absolutely top quality. unlike our Post for Former result FX2242 Certllled orders over W11270 24/.20 RED OppOSnaf 5t 5100 Included free! W11272 24/20 L12101 50.95 BLACK 6040 Resin cored Registered Post for orders Over W11274 24/.20 GREEN Cat. No. Description Price FX2243 Assembly. 52001ncuded free) PRICES PER 100 METRE ROLL 2 halves. 24mm diameter RECHARGEABLE All 1-9 10+ T31000 .71mm 250gen . ,. 58.95 sales tax exempt orders and L12110 59.95 POCKET wholesale Inquiries to: 44.4-00- 731002 .71mm 5009th 515.95 LIGHT Former to sun FX2243 Compact and very 0onveniend FLUORESCENT WORK 8 RITRONICSW NOLESALE, 512.60 510.80 731010 .91 mm 250gm . 57.95 112111 $1.00 No more expense batteries 56 Renver Rd. Clairton. T31012 mm Up EMERGENCY LIGHT Ph. (03) 543 2166 (3 lines) .91 500910 514.95 E Core. 2 halves to 1.000 recharges Sues cars, boanng, caravan, W11280 32/.2 BROWN To recharge. 131020 t.ónm 250gm .. 57.50 L12115 58.95 Lmply remove the camping etc Errors and omissions excepted W11282 32/.2 BLUE rear and Former to suit E Core cover plug derectly into a Shanerproot, glare tree PRICES PER 100 METRE ROLL T31022 1.6nern 5o0ges $13.95 240V power pant 'Mole and IBM are ~Dean sea* names L12116 51.95 Cgarene lighter plug and alligator 1-9 10+ 131030 .71mm 1 metre $1.50 Chargeg time: appros IS ha/0 Complete E Core assemblyy. clips 031032 .91 mm 1 metre ¡when fully discharged) iEB:6B`- .i?tr.AB ... 51.25 (including end plates and fts) 12V DC, 8 watt. transistorised VISA Cat AIS05I 518,00 516.20 131034 1.6mm 1 metre .... 51.00 L12117 516.95 __only 513.95 Cat A15052 525.95 FREE POSTAGE FOR ALL ORDERS OVER $75 & UNDER 3KG!! NEWS DIGEST

The year of audio sales by as much as the other components and this could eas- NASA tank ily be attributed to AM stereo was 1986 seen as the year that compact disc player where tuners achieving a good level of audio would finally make a sales have more than doubled conversion sales. NASA has awarded a seven - comeback as one of the over the corresponding six month, contract to dominant product groups in the month period last year. In fact At the other end of the scale $93,000 Martin Marietta to study the electronics industry. Compact this phenomenal growth in com- equalizers have suffered a big feasibility of converting a Space disc players would lead the rush, pact discs has more than com- drop in unit sales (approximate- Shuttle external tank to an orbit- with hi-fi components a close pensated for the sales drop in ly 34%). ing telescope. second. other areas of hi-fi. The complete reverse in com- According to NASA's Max While not as bullish as some Sales of amplifiers, receivers, sales be said of hi- ponent can Nein, the proposal to transform had predicted, the market is still turntables and tape decks have fi speakers. For the six month the external tank into a gamma looking pretty good. According all dropped,in unit terms by be- period, hi-fi speakers were 23% ray imaging telescope (GRIT) to to information from CESA, the tween 13% and 18%. Total hi-fi up on last year. Undoubtedly study gamma ray sources in the Consumer Electronics Suppliers systems have also dropped in compact disc players have universe, appears possible. Association, component sys- unit terms by approximately caused many to go consumers Studies have determined that tems and 3 -in -1 sales are up 18% whilst music centres are better quality for speakers to the spent tanks, 47 metres long about 8.3% on last year's figures. down by 7%. match their CD players' dynam- and 8 metres In diameter, could The hi-fi flyer has, indeed, been Tuners have not declined in ic range. be carried into orbit rather than discarded just before the shuttle achieves orbit. Components of the telescope would be carried in the shuttle's cargo bay along with other payloads. Be- Don't pay too much. cause the telescope would require periodic maintenance, it wil) probably orbit near the for connectors planned space station, 400 km above Earth. The proposal was initiated by Dr David Koch at the Astro- 41, physical Observatory of the IV' Smithsonian Institute. y Once in space, residual i _ propellents would be expelled '''-l . :o from the tank and astronauts could assemble telescope com- S ponents within the liquid hydro- gen tank. They could enter the tank via an existing 36 -inch aft manhole port or through tank fri: modification. The tank would then be pressurized to d provide ... tv.'`j, the needed environment for the gamma ray detection technique. In operation, gamma rays would be converted by a lead plate into positrons and elec- trons which travel the length of the telescope emitting light. The Not all multipole connectors are priced the same. These SC series multi pole light would be imaged onto a connectors are as little as half the price and equally as good if not better than detector by a large mirror span- similar connectors. ning the diameter of the tank. Features include provision for 3 cable entry positions in the housing, a pushbutton Since gamma rays reflect the highest energy processes, gam- ose for easy locking and release and polarized plug and socket for correct connection. % 'FS All connectors come complete with housing and are available with 8, 12, 16, 20, ma ray astronomy is essential to o, 24_ 28 34, 45 or 60 contacts. understanding the evolution of % ,\(call É.S. Rubin and be pleasantly surprised at how little you can pay stars and the universe and to the -1 ' o orq- for a multipole connector. physical processes occurring in pulsars, quasars and black 0 holes. Nein said NASA plans to con- E. IS: RUB1N . 00o duct a separate gamma ray c, ELECTRICAL survey using the orbiting '50 - Gamma Ray Observatory Head Office: 73-77 Whiting St. Artarmon NSW 2064. (GRO). The gamma ray imaging Phone (02) 439 2333 Telex 121175 Fax (02) 439 2278 or Vic. 1138-140 Berkeley St. Carlton 3053. Phone (03) 347 6588 Telex 30948 telescope would follow up the ' SA: 49 Woodville Rd. Woodville 5011. Phone (08) 268 1111 Telex 82529 work of the GRO by enabling WA: 7 Rosslyn St. West Leederville 6007. Phone (09)382 2619 Telex 94623 NASA to conduct even more XI ESR 069 detailed gamma ray studies. 14 - ETI December 1986 Listeners In Durban were intro- South Africa on SW duced to wireless three As South Africa finds world months later. media channels less and less Revenue, however, was a sympathetic it has Increas- problem and in 1927 the ingly turned to shortwave Schlesinger Organization in- broadcasts to disseminate its corporated the three stations Shiley V I views. into the South African Broad- _ Established in 1966, Radio casting Company. Financial piF10t South Africa originally used difficulties continued to limit IRS 250 kW transmitters, then up- the spread of radio and not graded to 500 kW ones. It is long 'after, a government en- now heard worldwide except quiry was Into ordered all Verification card from Radio RSA. in Australia and New Zealand. aspects of South African Reception is difficult in this broadcasting. The result was from Cape Town, Durban and Radio RSA broadcasts in 11 region due to the signal cross- the establishment in 1936 of Johannesburg were moni- languages for 208 hours per ing the auroral zone. the SABC in the terms of a new tored by the writer. The 5 kW week. It receives over Johannesburg's first radio 100,000 Act. SABC accordingly cel- transmitters used were given letters from listeners per broadcast was made 29 Dec- year. ebrates its 50th anniversary away for 20 kW ones transmit- English broadcasts are ember, 1923 by the South this year. ting from Paradys near 0200-0256 UTC on 5980, 6010, African Railways. In 1924 the The new national radio ser- Bloemfontein which were 9615 kHz; 0300-0426 UTC Scientific and Technical Club vice on originally broadcast in used until the opening of 3230, 4990, 5980 kHz; took over transmissions on the English only, but the Act pro- Radio South Africa in 1966. Witwatersrand 0630-0730 UTC on 5980, 7270, then in Sep- vided for a parallel Afrikaans Until the 70s .studios were 9585 and tember the same year the 11900 kHz. Other service. By 1937 transmissions located in the centre of audible transmissions Cape and Peninsula Broad- were are being broadcast in both Johannesburg from where 2100-2156 UTC on 7270,9585 casting . Association began languages. they moved to a complex and 11900 kHz. broadcasting in Cape Town. In the 1940s SW broadcasts at Auckland Park. - Arthur Cushen Communications software booming Software -driven intelligent management systems has According to Mr Brian AXE 104 to emulate the larger products hold the key to sub- been produced which Techni- McKay, Ericsson's Director exchange's stantial of capacity, at a export sales for Aus- cal Director, Bruce Jones, Corporate Relations, export cheaper price. tralian electronics Because the com- claims are the first of their kind sales from these three pro- software is totally panies, according to to compatible the Aus- be developed In Australia: ducts are expected to ex- with the original AXE, tralian Electronics the AXE Industry As- office automation systems ceed $50 million by 1988, well 104 immediately has the po- sociation (AEIA). that allow computers to work above Ericsson's current ex- tential to be exported to at While software develop- through small business sys- port sales level of $20 million. least 68 other countries. It's a ment is usually associated tems; electronic funds transfer "These products have used prime example with the of a product computer Industry, at point of sale (EFTPOS) new software programs to cre- built in Australia for the world the electronics industry has equipment, and the new ate new applications and market." been researching and de- Credit Card Public Phone. open new markets," AWA is veloping Mr another telecom- "Intelligent" com- "Australia is at the leading McKay said. "The original FDS munications munications company which equipment, edge of EFTPOS development 10 queuing system, the ASDP sees strong export using software potential programs, and our work In developing 162, for example, has been on for its software-driven pro- since the early 1960s. communications software for the market for 10 years, and ducts. Chief among these Is Major companies such as the network has good local 73% of its sales now come AWANET, an integrated ser- Ericsson and STC, for example, and export potential," Mr from overseas. vices local area network now devote about 30% of Jones said. "We have now launched which is soon to be installed in their R&D workforce to soft- In the shorter term, STC Is the FDS 10 version of the ware Sydney's Police Control development on various creating opportunities by the product to the money market, Centre, and which has follow- products. use of enhanced software which has an obvious need for on applications Software for traffic con- programs are be- equipment such as its PCM fast, accurate communica- trol and other police work. ing for used a range of tele- multiplex and optical sys- tions and reliable data. Industry sources claim there communications needs, from tems. "The AXE 104 is another will be vast opportunities network control for and packet Another company, Ericsson, good example of modern new peripheral products in switching to is testing and diag- so excited about the current computer programming. It the telecommunications nostic network mar- maintenance, and potential export sales of uses the some hardware tech- ket, particularly as Telecom as well as In a myriad of other three software -driven pro- nology as the original AXE pushes ahead with its electronics products such as ducts it has developed in public exchange (which has changeover to an all electronic funds -digital transfer (EFT), Australia that it has set up an been the building block of the telephone network and intro- office automation equipment, export division to handle telephone system in Australia duces the Integrated and the whole Services Telecom public them. and in 68 other countries) but Digital Network (ISDN), which telephone network. The three products are the completely different software, will allow any combination of This R&D effort is now paying ASDP 162, an automatic tele- and a completely new pro- voice, text, data, graphics dividends in the form of phone call distributor, the FDS cessor with a new high -power and video to be used over a technologically advanced 10, a specialized application operating system. single telephone line. products with widespread ex- of the ASDP system, and the "This software, which has port potential. AXE 104, a rural public tele- been totally developed in At STC, a range of energy phone exchange system. Australia, allows the smaller ETI December 1986 - 15 NEWS DIGEST

. PRIZES, PRIZES, PRIZES

j 1

SONY * - - Dr Myles Harding and Dr David Jupp with another winner, Dr Dieter Plate, of the Division of Textile Industry. ..

Mr Sommerville receiving his $10 000 worth of gear from Mr Mark Kelly of CSIRO medals 1986 Sony. Research work in the widely The first of these develop- Mr Gary Sommerville of recent computerized draw differing fields of diamond re- ments is a high speed indus- Punchbowl (Sydney) was the which involved subscribers to covery, remote sensing, in- trial vision processor now be- lucky winner of the $10,000 ETI. dustrial computer systems ing manufactured and mar- Sony Audio Visual System In a and wool textiles has been keted by Vision Systems (see recognized in the awarding of ETI, July 1986). The other Is a CSIRO medals. discrete event computer They were presented re- simulation package which cently by the chairman of hás been applied success- CSIRO, Dr Keith Boardman, at fully to some major new Aus- a meeting in Melbourne of the tralian manufacturing facili- chiefs of CSIRO's 43 research ties and for which a commer- divisions and units. Amongst cial enterprise is currently be- those receiving medals were ing established. two we've noted. Although he had no previous experience in either Dr David Jupp came to the technology, in late 1981 Dr Division of Land Use Re- then Harding agreed to lead a search in 1976 with a back- which project to develop VSLI (very ground in mathematics large scale integrated) circuit he to spatial analysis applied implementation of an indus- of natural resource data. Brad McMaster getting it from David Cartwright (TO. trial vision system. Within a He played the primary role very short time he had devel- is one chip Lucky person number two Texas instruments In developing remofe sensing and verified new algor- board. oped Brad McMaster of Seaforth micro evaluation research in the Division, and ithms for connectivity analy- again) who won the (Sydney the BRIAN (Barrier Reef Image sis. A worldwide market survey Analysis) system is the was commissioned and this realization of the novel confirmed that these devel- methods and algorithms he opments were well ahead of created. the existing technology and The joint undertaking by the promised significant improve- Great Barrier Reef Marine Park ment In cost/performance Authority, CSIRO and the Aus- when compared with the most tralian Survey Office in apply- advanced systems currently ing BRIAN to reef and shallow available. Vision Systems is water mapping was led by Dr now marketing the vision sys- Jupp. The significance of the tem. success of this effort Is During 1984, in response to recognized worldwide. a specific request from PA His further development of Technology, Dr Harding devel- microBRIAN has produced oped a simulation program to one of the most powerful and model a complex palletizing eti." versatile microcomputer operation for WD&HO Wills. E based Image analysis sys- Following the success of this Mery Nixon from AWA Information & Control with the winning ticket and tems. This system Is marketed work the same approach has Peter Hayes from ETI. by Microprocessor Appli- been applied to a number of And going interstate, Arthur Seiko wrist terminal he won In cations (see ETI, July 1986). large industrial systems. The Pounsett of Norlane in Victoria the ETI-AWA competition. Dr Myles Harding has been techniques developed by Dr is the proud new owner of the responsible for conceiving Harding have been shown and developing the key el- capable of simulating com- NOTES & ERRATA ements in two projects which plex plants and processes exist- to simulate with Project 284, VCR alarm, Nov '86: The piezo electro transducer speci- have a clear lead over impractical fied for this project also includes an oscillator in one package. We used ing technology and promise existing methods. Many com- Dick Smith Part No L7024 in the prototype. L7027 may also be used very substantial markets both panies have indicated a de- with a 2k7 resistor in parallel. In Australia and overseas. sire to market this software. 16 - ETI December 1986 Here's your chance to participate in the release of the most radical innovation in loudspeaker technology this decade and possibly WIN a magnificent Bose Analogue Watch just for previewing the soon to be legendary Bose Project X. For further details on how to win a Bose watch and preview the new and innovative Bose Project X, contact your Bose distributor or retailer NOW! Offer closes 1/3/87.

Bose Distributors NSW and VIC - Bose Australia (reverse charge) (02) 684 1022, OLD Stereo Supplies (07) 229 7930, WA Prosound (09) 325 1066, SA Blackwood Sound (08) 278-1281, TAS Chessman Distributors (003) 26 4622 =os oosel5

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Propagation The next layer, the E layer, is years. The last maximum past week propagation con- 100 to 150 kilometres up. It too period was in 1979-80 with an ditions and forecasts the com- conditions is the product of sunbeams average of 155 sunspots per ing week based on informa- A correspondent recently but it survives at night, reflect- day. The number dropped to tion from IPS Radio & Space wrote complaining that some ing medium waves after sun- 140 per day in 1981, 116 In Services, Sydney. "Taikback" higher priced receivers failed set and making continental 1982, 67 in 1983, 44 in 1984 is broadcast Saturday 0310 to perform adequately. He broadcasting possible. and 24 in 1985. The low sun- and 1610 UTC and Sundays was finding It difficult to hear Above the E layer, about spot count forces more 0530, 0910, 1230 and 2040 signals on weekends too. This 200 kilometres up, Ile the F stations to lower frequencies UTC. prompts me to outline iono- one and two layers. These two with consequent crowding The same type of informa- spheric conditions that con- layers merge into one layer and disturbance. So to those tion is available on Radio trol the reception of short- after sunset. The ion content who were listening to abso- Nederland's "Media Net- wave signals - regardless of and the height of the F two lutely nothing on 9 February work" program broadcast on the price of receiver. layer depend on both the this year during the worst dis- Thursday at 0750 UTC on 9630 The present low sunspot time of day and the season. turbance of the ionosphere in and 9715 kHz and repeated at count means the sun's surface Usually it has the highest de- 25 years, it wasn't your re- 1050 UTC on 9650 kHz. is clean with little activity and gree of ionization and is ceiver's fault. Jonathan Marks of Radio a consequent lower ion con- localized at a height of 250 to Listeners are able to receive Nederland discusses by tele- centration in the ionospheric 400 kilometres. This layer up to date information on phone with Mike Bird in Mel- layers. When the concentra- reflects high frequency short- propagation conditions from bourne the present propa- tion is not high enough, radio waves which, with multiple WWV Boulder, Colorado, or gation situation. waves are not reflected but reflection, are carried over WWVH in Hawaii at 18 minutes Those listeners in Australia are absorbed and 'lost' in the the longest distances. Oc- past each hour. These Stan- wishing to receive the latest layers. Long distance AM and casionally, there are so many dard Time and Frequency information on propagation shortwave transmissions are reflections that the waves Stations operate on 5000, conditions can phone the only possible when reflected 'sail' around the world result- 10000 and 15000 kHz and ionosphere Prediction Service by the ionosphere. ing in an echo effect. When announce the time each min- In Sydney on (02) 269-8614. The Ionosphere is 400 kilo- the sun's cycle reaches its ute. There are also several which has details of the pres- metres thick and has four maximum activity point, ex- standard announcements ent situation and predictions identifiable layers. The first is tremely low power high fre- concerning the weather, ship- for future reception con- the D layer, 40 kilometres quency shortwave stations ping and other information. ditions. The tapes are thick and with the lowest can be received in distant Two programs on shortwave changed daily at 1000 UTC. ionization. It starts at about 50 regions. cover this information In lay- This interesting service will kilometres from the Earth's sur- The sun's cycle lasts about man's language, both orig- be appreciated by many who face. The D layer is entirely a 11 or 11 and a half years, with inating from Radio Australia in the past have listened to product of sunbeams and maximum activity In the third Studios in Melbourne. At the WWV, but would like to get the exists only in daylight hours. or fourth year gradually conclusion of Radio Austra- information from a source in Because of its low ionization It decreasing to a minimum in lia's "Taikback" program, the South Pacific. reflects only long waves. the following seven or eight Mike Bird gives a review of - Arthur Cushen

binatlon of four other station's full address is: c/- broadcasts bright Latin Ameri- LATIN AMERICAN NEWS languages up to 2400 UTC. Comite internacional de can music with a typical 11870 kHz is assigned also to Rescarte, Bvde Cangrejal, morning program format. COSTA RICA: A new station in the station. Colonia Naranjal, Frente a la This Item was contributed by Costa Rica called Radio for GUATEMALA: AWR In Casa Dr Vasquez, La Ceiba, Arthur Cushen, 212 Earn St, Peace is being planned by a Guatemala has extended its Atlantida. Invercargill, New Zealand who United States group. The 10 kW transmissions and Is now PERU: Another station on 4755 would be pleased to supply transmitter will be located at heard 1100-1300 UTC on the kHz is Radio Huanta 2000, additional information on me- a University Campus in Costa regular frequency of 5980 kHz. which broadcasts from dium and shortwave listening. Rica. The antenna has been It has been heard in Australia Huanta, Peru. This station com- All times quoted are UTC completed, according to and New Zealand at that time. mences operation at 1030 (GMT) which is 10 hours be- Radio Nederland, and pro- HONDURAS: A new station in UTC and has generally faded hind Australian Eastern Stan- gram preparation is under Honduras has been heard on out before the new Honduras dard Time, and areas observ- way. Most of the material will 4755 kHz opening at 1200 station opens on the fre- ing daylight saving time be in English and Spanish and UTC, and broadcasts are now quency. Radio Huanta 2000 should add a further hour. later other languages will be on a regular basis after a added. As soon as finance period of tests. The test broad- permits the transmitter power casts were heard around 0930 will be increased, but for the UTC, identified as HRRI and first start It is expected that Radio observed by Wally Singleton for Peace will cover the of Dunedin, New Zealand. Caribbean area. Part of the Subsequent reception of the program will be by sponsor- regular broadcasts have ship to keep the station in been heard in Australia and operation. the station Identifies following AWR Latin America has been the National Anthem. Accord- testing on 15460 kHz and ing to "Sweden Calling regular broadcasts are ex- DXers," HRRI is operated by pected to be 1600-1800 UTC the International Rescue in English and 1800-2200 UTC Committee. The schedule is in Spanish, and then a corn - 1200-0200 UTC, and the 18 - ETI December 1986 COMING EVENTS

DECEMBER An international CAD/CAM Congress on current realities Hong Kong CommuniTech & Computer '86 is on 3 to 6 and future directions will be held 17 to 20 March in December. Contact Australian Exhibition Services on (03) Melbourne. Contact ACADS/FACE Congress Secretariat, 576 267-4500. St Kilda Rd, Melbourne, Vic 3004. (03)51-9153. The third `mathematics-in -industry' study group will be held The Fourth South Pacific Area Conference of Computer at Monash University, Melbourne, from 1 to 5 December, Users, SPARC '87, will be held in Brisbane 17-19 March 1986. 'Further information is available from Dr and F.R. de is calling for papers. Contact Graham on Hoog, CSIRO Division of Mathematics and Statistics, GPO Coote (07)57-7077. Box 1965, Canberra, ACT 2601. (062) 82-2011. The dates and venues for the two PC87s are as follows: Eighth Australian Personal Computer Microbits '86, an introductory Microcomputer Interfacing Show, Centrepoint, Sydney, 18-21 March, 1987; and Ninth Australian PC Principles course in conjunction with QIT, will be held 1-5 Show December. Enquiries 'Communications 87', 'Office Technology 87', Royal Exhi- should be directed to Q Search on bition Building, (07)223-2196. Melbourne, 1-4 June, 1987. Labex '87, International Lab and Equipment and Products The 11th Optical Fibre ex- Technology Conference will be held hibition is in Brisbane at the Science Pavilion, RNA Exhibition 1 to 4 December. Contact the of & Institute Radio Elec- Grounds, 31 March to 2 April. Contact BPI on (02) 266-9799. tronics Engineers on (03) 606-6581 for more information. APRIL A seminar on integrating voice and data is on 3 to 5 ATUG '87 4th Australian Telecommunications & December at the Gazebo, Sydney. Contact Management Exhibition Conference will be held at the Hilton Hotel in Sydney 7 to Technology Education on (02) 290-3555 or (03) 67-7117. 9 April. Contact Riddell Exhibitions on (03) 429-6088. The Pacific Region Conference on Electrical Engineering The Education is on 15 to 17 December at Vue Grand, Queen- fourth workshop on small computer systems, organized by the scliffe, Vic. Contact John Hulskame at RMIT on (03) 660- Queensland Institute of Technology, is on 13-15 April 2453 for more information. and calling for papers. Contact Dr C. Chesmond, QIT Dept of Elec Eng, on (07) 223-2484. The Intelligent Autonomous Systems Conference is on 8 to 11 December in Amsterdam. Contact Secretariat, Confer- MAY ence IAS, Cl- Congressbureau "Van Box Neutegen", PO Photographics '87, an 27783, 3003 MB Rotterdam. (010) 433-3179. exhibition of the equipment and technology of photographics will be held 23 to 26 May at the JANUARY RAS Showgrounds in Sydney. Information Online '87 will be held 27 to 29 January at the Ausgraph '87 is on 11-15 May in Perth. Contact Conference Hilton, Sydney. Contact Kay Paterson on (02) 332-4622. Secretariat on (03)387-9955. PTC87, Pacific Telecommunications Users, is on 18-21 JUNE January at Sheraton Waikiki, Honolulu. Contact PTC Videotex '87 Exhibition & 1 is on in Council, 1 10 University Ave, Suite 308, Honolulu, Hawaii Conference Melbourne 96826, US. over three days in June. Contact Riddell Exhibitions on (03) 429-6088. FEBRUARY Communications '87, the Australian International Office Tech- Finance '87 Melbourne, an exhibition of money -handling nology Exhibition, is on I to 4 June at the Royal Exhibition technology, will be held at the World Trade Centre, Mel- Building, Melbourne. Contact Australian Exhibition Services bourne, 10 to 13 February. For further information contact on (03) 267-4500. BPI Exhibitions on (02) 266-9799. PC87, the Ninth Australian Personal Computer Show is on I MARCH to 4 June at the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne. Con- tact Australian Exhibition Services on (03) 267-4500. A series of seminars will be held in conjunction with the International Technology Exhibition in Canberra 3-7 March. Office Technology '87 will be held I to 4 June in Melbourne. For more information contact Total Concept Exhibitions on Contact Australian Exhibition Services on (03) 267-4500. (02)938-2033. The 1987 Computing Systems Conference will be held 17 to 19 Hewlett-Packard Precision Architecture is on display at the June in Brisbane. Contact the Institute of Engineers, South Pacific Area Conference of Computer Users at the Australia, 1 I National Circ, Barton, ACT 2600. (062)73-3633. Videotex Brisbane Hilton 17-19 March. Contact Graham Coote on '87 Exhibition & Conference is on in Melbourne (07)57-7007 or Chris Kelly on (07)371-6984. over three days in June. Contact Riddell Exhibitions on (03)429-6088. An International CAD/CAM Congress on current realities Videotex will and future directions will be held 17 to 20 March in Mel- '87 be held 30 June to 2 July at the Sheraton Hotel, bourne. Contact ACADS/FACE Congress Secretariat, 576 Auckland. Contact the Secretariat on (649)68-6955. St Kilda Rd, Melbourne, Vic 3004. (03) 51-9153. The Third National Space Engineering Symposium will be held 30 June 2 PC87, the Eighth Australian Personal Computer Show, is on to July at the Australian Defence Academy in 17 to 20 March at Centrepoint in Sydney. Contact Australian Canberra. Contact The Conference Manager on Exhibition Services on (03) 267-4500. (062)73-3633. The Queensland Electronic Distributors Association will hold AUGUST its next exhibition 24-25 March at the Brisbane Entertain- Nelcon '87, National Electronics Conference will be held 24 to ment Centre. Contact Bob Hunt (07)854-1911 or Bob Heelan 28 August at Auckland University, New Zealand. Contact B.S. (07)277-4311. Furby on (02) 957-3017.

ETI December 1986 - 19 FREE Kits! Kits! Kits! Kits! Kits! Kits! r,ij ilk y- 414141, t. 1 4' " s>' ELECTRIC FENCE 1, SOLDERING IRON PARAMETRIC DIGITAL CAPACITANCE Mains or battery powered, this fi\ electnc fence controller is both TEMPERATURE EQUALISER METER Mk.2 3 Inexpensive and versatile. Based on Does your music system want a new Updated from the EA March'80 HUMIDITY METER CONTROL KIT an automatve iginbon coil, It ELECTRONIC frequency response? Does your issue, this Digital Capacitance This project can be burn to ive a M important factor in good sokenrig should guitar or keyboard need some Meter checks capacitor values readout of relative humidity either on prove an adequeate MOUSETRAP technique is the correct choice of deterrent to all manner of livestock This clever electronic mousetrap equalisation to brighten the sound? iron lyF to 99 99u over three a LED dof-mode display a a soldering temperature. If you have Additonally, its disposes of mice instantly and Well, here is a module which can be ranges its main features include a conventional meter. In addnsn It operation comlorms put off buying a temperature to the Australian mercifully, without fail, and resets used by itself on individual nulling circuit and a bright 4 digit be used with another project as relevant clauses of controlled soldering iron because can Stnd itsen automatically. They'll never get instruments or ganged to equalise LED display, to turn on and off a water 3129. (EA Sept '82) 82EF9 they are so expensive, your problems a controller away with the cheese again! your music system. Note:The RIE kll contains quality mist spray M a hothouse, fa Cat 682092 Normally 519.95 are solved with this low cost sokleneg Aug '84) ETI 1524 (ETI 1406, ETI August'86) silk screen pnnted and prepunched example.. (ETI May '8t) E7I-256 IETI eon temperature ~roller kit It SPECIAL, ONLY $14.95 Cal- K55240 $34.95 fully front panel AND an exclusive (Includes humidity sensor 519.50) provides regulated, adjustable Cat. K54060 $16.50 Hgh Intensity Display) temperature control over a Cat K42560 (BBOOcc 3a. EA August g5) $39.50 reasonably wide range and will work with just about any conventional Cat K80030 $69.50 240V soldering iron rated from 20W i -ox to 75W. (Eli 1532, ETI Sept '86) In)AKytt«la Cat. 655320 $24.95 0 eísevu.' I ( 41> SA SD .a ' MUSICOLOR IV AUDIO TEST UNIT Add excitement to parties, card Just about everyone these days who RS232 FOR COMMODORE has stereo system also has a good your nights and discos web EAs a A simple project to give cassette deck, but not many people Commodore RS232 compatibility. Musicolor IV light show. This is the PARALLEL PRINTER latest in the famous line of are able to get the best performance (ETI 1601, ETI July '86) and it offers features front it. Our Audio Test Unit allows SWITCH KIT usicoors when ever Cat. 656010 514.95 such as lour -color organ- you to set your cassette recorder's Tired of plug swapping channel from one printer plus four channel IgM chaser, front bias for optimum frequency you want to charge TESTER another? This low-cost project TELEPHONE APPLIANCE TRANSISTOR panel LED display. internal response to a given tape or to Have you ever desodered a suspect alternatrvey. 8 allows you to find out should shit you down to the ground. CONTROLLER find that microphone single sensitivity This clever project lets you dial your transistor, only to it checks which tape is best for your recorder. It lets you have two Cenlronicstype 06?Trouble-shooting exercises are control plus opto-coupled switching home number and switch a mains for increased safety (81A010) (EA Oct'81) printers connected up permanently. orlon hindered by this type of false so that you can select one or the a on or , without Aug '81) 81 MC8 Cat. K81101 alarm, but many of them could be (EA 559.50 flick of a switch. tortthe phonecaliance l You can use Rot Cat. 681080 599 other at the with an turn on outside lights, a spa or an avoided 1ncircuit- (ETI 666, Feb. '85) tester, the electric blanket. conponeet such as EA Cat. (46660 579.95 (86ts6, EA June 86) Handy Tester. (EA Sept -'83) 83TT8 Cal. K86061 554.95 Cat K83080 Normally $18.95 SPECIAL, ONLY 514.95 I r r/ NOR i- ' L.it f. K1iilia r47 rA 0(5 MULTI SECTOR 1 = 1 l ALARM STATION 15V DUAL POWER Protect your home and possessions 1119 from burglars oath this up to the VIDEO CIRCUIT SUPPLY 2/240V 40W INVERTER f FADER for minute burglar alarm system. It's Add a touch of professionalism This simple project is suitable This 12240V invader can be used t,e ; most projects requiring a dual to power up mains appliances rated \'` easy to build, costs less than - to your video navies oath this simple equrvelen. commercial units, and Video Fader Circuit. It enables you voltage. Includes transformer. up to 40W, or to vary the speed of a (Elf 581, June 76) turntable. As a bonus, it will also Afilt features eight seperate inputs. to fade a scene to black (and back individual sector control, battery again) without loss of picture lock Cat. K45810 534.95 work backwards as a trickle charger back up and saddest facility. DELUXE CAR sync colr,ou to top up Me battery when the power Specifications: (EA Jar '86. 85010) is on. (EA May 82) 82IV5 Eight with BURGLAR ALARM sectors LED status from taring Cat 519.95 Cat 682050 $69.95 DIGITAL SAMPLER KIT indication. Stop your car one of the stolen cars each w. Digital sampling rs at the core of Two delayed entry sectors. 70,000 stolen this 'state the many of the special sound effects Venable exit entry and alarm year with of an- car burglar alarm. Features include key used by modern musicians A Ingger time settings: entry delay variable switch operation, delayed entry and Input (usually a contstuction dram between 10 and 75 seconds: exit prea[w44 wRrlcqb exit. automatic reset. and provision pad) Inggers a prerecorded sound delay variable between 5 and 45 from the digital sampler. This sound seconds; alarm time variable for an auxiliary battery. Further recorded into 46 of more, of the 10 most important has been the between 1 and 15 minutes, - listed 14 30 V/1 A FULLY features by NRMA, this el onboard memory and can be Resistive loop sensing: suits EA Debate Car Alan has of them! digitally manipulated so that it both normally open and normally 9 'PROTECTED POWER sounds completely different on closed alarm sensors, (84ba5, EA May 84) MOTORCYLCE SUPPLY piayback The unit has controls for Battery back-up with In-built Cal. 684050 579.50 INTERCOM The last power supply we did was 41 nixing. It gain, regeneration and chargem circuit. 300 the phenomenally popular 611.131. also gives *choice of a number of Boll -in siren driver. OVER SOLD! This low cost supply features full Motorcycling is fun, the reiterant triggering methods. The Includes but protecton, output variation Iran OV RIE kit a superb rider 12-240V DC-AC INVERTER (Eli 1402, May -July '86) primed and prepunched metal conversation between and to 30V and selectable current limit. is just INLCLUDING 300 WATTS case and Inside metal work, plus passenger usually not Both volatage and current metenng Cal- 641420 5119 possible. But build this anercom gall bareryl Unbeatable VALUE! and Is provided. (ETI Dec: 83) ETI 162 TRANSFORMER you can converse with your This inverter is capable of dnving K41620 Normally EA Cat. K85900 Normally 5129 passenger at any tine while you are Cal 559,50 mains appliances rated up to 300VA SPECIAL, $119 on the move. There are no -push.to- SPECIAL, $44.50 and features voltage regulation and talk- buttons, adjustable volume and full over load protection. It's easy to build! (EA June'82) 821V6 IEA Feb ge)84MC2 AEM DUAL SPEED Nominal Supply: Voltage 12V DC Cat. 684020 M CROBEE SERIAL -TO - $45,00 MODEM KIT Output: Voltage see table The ultimate kit modem featunng Frequency: 50Hz+-005% PARALLEL INTERFACE 1200/300 baud, case and Regulation: see table - Most microcomputers worth front Maximum Load: 300VA ..,. i v 'RS232' connector, prepunched panel _e owning have an Exceptional value for 30A (primary) which senal money! Current Limiting: or port, through (AEM 4600 Dec '85) Efficiency: see table communications (input/output) is BIT PATTERN Normally 5169 KIT conducted. It is a convention that. for GENERATOR listing on a printer, the BASIC LUST In applications where you are FREQUENCY STANDARD SPECIAL, ONLY $149 Get the equivalent of a rubidium or LPRINT command assumes a rí required to look fora particular byte RS232 frequency standarde by draping a printer is connected to the d information In a serial or parallel Problem senal interlace pNce 01wire over Ore back of your port. R, wo Srn _1 data path. short Oa logic analyser or printers ere more expensve than not a TV item Believe it or nor your humble LOW-COST BIPOLAR storage oscilloscope, there is parallel 'Centronics' interface lá S lot to help you. However, this Bit television can provide an extremely oó> lau a$E centers . Save money by building MODEL TRAIN a stable and accurate reference Pattern Generator gives you a this interface, Jan '84)01 675 simple and eccoromical way to frequency. 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K41720 $54.95 handy gadget (undoes as both a thousand' expect from ordinary and is fully ovedoad protected, yet 300 235 29.6 82 28 (SeriaVParallel Kit) you bell extender and or it meters. this simple project, an contains relatively few plane With can perform either I P&P $10.00 Anywhere on Australia components Best of all, you don't extremely accurate 1 MHz signal can separately. (EA Feb. 84) 84TP2 be derived for very little outlay. need to be an electronic genius to Cat. K82062 $219 Cal. K84021 (ETI 174, July 116) construct it, (80TC12) (EA Dec '80) $27.50 ,dat- Zj Cat K4 f 740 524.95 Cal K80120 539.95 aare al" 4. y i.. i - PLAYMASTER 300 WATT FOUR CHANNEL MIXER ----s- AMPLIFIER -ar.=t This Inur channel mixer project This module will deliver up to 200 I, FUNCTION GENERATOR This goes professional quality with CRYSTAL CONTROLLED watts into an 8 ohm load and up to Function Generator with digital impressive specifications readout produces Sane, Tnangle 1V PATTERN GENERATOR 300 watts into a 4 ohm load. 1 SPECIFICATIONS: Anyone wishing to obtain the Comprehensive protection is rJ and Square waves over a frequency Max. input sensitivity -504B maximum performance horn a colour included and a circuit board range from below 20Hz to above printer BATTERY 160Nz with low distortion (25reV) TV reliever reeds a pattern brings n all together in a rugged LOW and good It has ( Signal to noise ratio: -7848 generator. Why not build this superb easy -to -build module It can be built VOLTAGE INDICATOR envelope stability. an inbuilt relative to +4db nit which provides Me separate in either lullycompiemetary or Knowing your batteries are about to four-dgn frequency counter for ease 9'J Dlelonlon: 0.03% at +4dB. 21tHz patterns; dot, crosshatch, checker quasi -complementary versions, so give up on you could save many an and accuracy of frequency setting. Input Impedance: 3k ohm nominal board. grey scale and white raster? output transistor shortages should embarrassing situation. This simple (EA April'82, 82A03403) 1W AUDIO AMPLIFIER 100 A low'cost general-purpose,1 wan Output Impedance: ohms Note: The PIE kit includes a large be no problem at UJl. low cost project will give your early Note: The RIE Function Generator Frequency Response: 1011z to ABS type case! warning of power failure, and makes has high quality screen printed audio amplifier, suitable for (80PA6) (EA July '80) a audio 30kHz (-+1dB) (80pg6. EA June 80) a handy beginners project and prepunched front paned increasing your computers Cal 680060 Normally 5109 level, etc. (EA Nov 84) (ETI1404, ETI July 135) Cal- K80033 Normally 567.50 (Ell 280, March'85) Cat 682040 SPECIAL, ONLY 599 Cal. K42800 Cat. 682041 Cat. K84111 $9.95 Cat. 654040 599 SPECIAL, 562.50 (Heatsmk not included) 57.95 $109 POSTAGE FOR ORDERS OVER $75 & UNDER 3kg:N

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TESTING SPEAKER CABLE

For years now we have been plagued by readers abusing us for running speaker cable ads that "insult the intelligence"; and then by distributors of cable for not supporting them editorially. Lacking any authoritative, independent test results that would prove cables really do make an audible difference, we decided to create our own.

IF YOU HAVEN'T visited your local hi - Objective testing fidelity retailer recently, you may well be relatively complex circuit with pure resist- To understand the way we did the unaware of the wide range of speaker leads objective ance and a series of additional circuit testing, it's firstly necessary to understand a now offering. These range from thin scraggy elements which consist of parallel resistors, little bit of basic loudspeaker theory. figure '8' flexes with electrical characteristics inductors and capacitors. A loudspeaker is a transducer, comparable to 'bell wire' at one end of the used to Because the impedance characteristics of convert electrical into energy. spectrum, to 'super duper' thick speaker wires audio A typical the capacitors and inductors vary with three-way loudspeaker system (ie, with at the other. The differences between one varying frequency, the overall impedance these loudspeakers and matching mundane and esoteric cables don't end with cross-overs) has frequency relationship as measured at the an electrical equivalent circuit that looks like their appearances; prices range between 200 speaker terminals tends to be a relatively Figure I. This is, as you will observe, a per metre for the light duty speaker cable non-linear curve (see Figure 2). Such a curve (with typically 14 strands of 0.I4 mm wire in each conductor) up to $65 per metre for the most expensive of the imported speaker cables. These claim wonderful features such as oxygen -free single crystal copper and other physical characteristics which supposedly make the 'whistles blow and bells ring'. The general approach of the marketplace towards these cables has been to exhibit an unusual degree of scepticism, the fundamental reasons for which are not hard to find: if the loudspeakers work well with a cable selling for 20c per metre, how much more performance can you expect from a cable r costing 10 times that figure, let alone 100 times or 300 times that figure? Thinking this over, we decided to put speaker cable under the microscope. We wanted to settle a number of debates: firstly, are there objective differences between the . electrical properties of cables, and if so, are they likely to be significant? Equally important, we wanted to know if there are subjective THE PANEL George Butrumlis: Professional musician. differences between cables, ie, whether you Band Darren Challis: Student: Son of audio reviewer credits include Le Prix and Black Sorrows. He Louis Challis. His main can hear a difference. If so, claim to fame, according do the objective was previously musical director at George to Dad, is the ability to hear TV line frequency and subjective tests match up, and can you Patersons advertising, agency and currently through three closed doors. predict which ones will be better for your appears in Lennon: The Musical. system? 22 - ETI December 1986 Figure 1. Network used to simulate a typical three-way loudspeaker system.

= LA" t. L:I711111~11 o....ií V The new Time/Energy speakers give you crystal clear music and unheard-of Louis Challis & ETI staff separation between instruments.

is typified by a lower (or lowest) level which is called the speaker characteristic impedance, t 219Ern and which may typically vary between two V and 16 ohms, depending on which brand or model of speaker you happen to own. The Time/Energy distortion of conventional speakers results in a blurring of The speaker is powered by an amplifier the music. which usually has a very much lower output impedance than the characteristic impedance of the speaker. The ratio of these two Figure 3. Time/energy distortion, or 'smear'. impedances is called the damping factor. The

Richard Muecke: Freelance recording engineer. Glen Phimister: Recording engineer. Oper- Meredith Rogers: Consultant. Previously em- Previous credits include the Divinyls What a Life ations manager at Studio 301. ployed as an acoustic engineer. LP. He was previously an engineer at Paradise Studios.

ETI December 1986 - 23 SOUND REVIEW

better the damping factor, ie, the lower the amplifier impedance, the more readily the system is capable of dampening unwanted Louis Challis recommends .. . the ends of your leads to reduce both fraying residual speaker movement at the end of a Although originally sceptical about the benefits and corrosion, and even whether the leads transient Some American reviewers and that can be derived or expected from super themselves should be tin-plated or silver-plated I am now much more at ease with the to reduce surface manufacturers refer to this characteristic as cables, accelerated corrosion that concept of spending a reasonable (but small) some brands of cables tend to exhibit. Obvi- the control of the time/energy distortion and portion of one's budget on good,, better, and in ously, pragmatism, the availability of a soldering this is not a bad way of describing it some specific cases the best speaker cables iron and the type of terminals fitted to your Most modern amplifiers now have output that you can find. There is every justification for speakers and/or amplifier will influence the impedances which lie somewhere in the range buying good speaker cables the resistance of situation in each case. 0.01 ohms to 0.3 ohms. The better amplifiers which is equal to or less than 0.02 ohms per The use of high quality low resistance metre or similarly for which the total lead speaker leads will make a small to negligible tend to have output impedances which are resistance is less than 0.2 ohms (both wires in difference in the quality of your audible signal very low while the cheaper ones tend to have series). when you use the best amplifiers and to a lesser output impedances which are somewhat Obviously, if your speakers are very close to extent the best loudspeakers. Unfortunately, higher. the amplifier, you may be able to economize to most people don't own the best amplifiers, nor If your amplifier has an output impedance some degree, although even then I still rec- the best loudspeakers. My measurements have ommend good cable even if only because the confirmed that the majority of 0.01 ohms and your speaker lead has an of people (and amount of cable you would need to buy is so particularly those whose speakers exhibit impedance I of 0.5 ohms (or even ohm) then pitifully little. 'funny' impedance curves and/or are relatively the source impedance seen at the speaker ' One of the fundamental questions that I have remote from the amplifier) have more to gain terminals will be significantly different from not addressed in this assessment relates to how from using better speaker leads than you may that of the amplifier alone. It will, in fact, the speaker lead should be terminated and more have imagined. depend critically on the characteristics of the specifically whether you should purchase com- I have now decided to upgrade my long mercial spade lugs, gold-plated plugs, solder speaker test leads and practise what I preach. speaker cable. Such musings at least provide a viable mechanism by which speaker cable might make a difference to the sound of an amplifier. The question then is: is it really the case that the damping factor is critical to the original electrical signal following a transient ,ing' of the signal so that the transients are no way an amplifier/speaker combination per- voltage excursion. longer clean and sharp (see Figure 3). You are forms? I believed that principle for years without also exposed to a time domain distortion For more than three generations since the really being sure whether it was justified or which you may not have realized existed. first dynamic speakers were developed, our not. Well! Our measurements have We fed two separate loudspeakers, one peer group has impressed on us that the confirmed that it is and that unless your English and one American, with bursts of damping factor is an important parameter. speaker cable impedance is relatively low, the sine waves. These were at or near the lowest Unless we keep it down, the loudspeaker's result will be a modification of the electrical resonant frequency of the speaker (but still voice call will not faithfully repeat the signal. This typically shows up as a 'smear - well within the normal audible range). I was able to confirm that these speakers are afflicted by significant 'smear' or time/energy TABLE 1. THE CABLES WE TESTED distortion in their output signals when the impedance increases by as little as 0.5 ohms Name Model Distributor Price/ Total Total C Length Ohms/ Capacitance/ in the speaker leads (see Figure 3). metre ohms (pF) (m) metre metre The tests I found it interesting to observe these effects A: speaker none Sheridan 0.30 0.61 555 10.74 0.057 51.6 at low, medium and particularly at high cable Electronics frequencies for, although the effect can be B: Audio Audio 22.00 0.20 435 10.01 0.02 43.4 LC-OFC Goldring produced more readily at higher frequencies, Technica it is not nearly as audible. C: Monster XP Convoy 4.50 0.27 678 10.7 0.025 63.5 If you add one extra cycle to a signal at a D: Kimber 4TC+8TC Audio O Imports 65.00 0.15 1316 9.97 0.015 132.4 low frequency, ie, at 50 Hz, you a 20 E: QED 79 Leisure Sound 6.00 0.14 1005 10.47 0.013 96.2 produce F: Monster Cable Convoy 6.95 0.1 683 10.5 0.0095 64.9 millicerond signal which is audible, and which I found an extra 0.5 ohms of speaker lead impedance can produce. At higher frequencies, although readily visible on an TABLE 2. oscilloscope, it requires more than one extra cycle of signal to reach the threshold where Name Volume Noise Bass response Treble response Middle response you can audibly discriminate between the performance two signals or detect the extended signal smear that such produces. A: speaker cable -1 -1 -2 -6 1 carry-over B: Audio Technica -3 3 2 -1 3 The second series of tests that I undertook C: Monster XP -4 4 3 -2 -6 were to measure the characteristics _ of a D: Kimber 2 2 0 6 -2 sample of six commercial speaker leads, each E: OED 4 -4 0 1 -3 nominally 10 metres long with impedances F: Monster Cable 2 -4 2 6 -2 ranging between 0.01 ohms per metre to 0.06 Composite results for all the cables obtained in the following If way: a respondent preferred a certain ohms per metre (see Table I). For good cable in the A/B test, it was given +1. The poorer one was given -1, and answers of 'unsure' or 'no measure, I added a coaxial cable with a total difference', were scored at 0. Then the results were added together to give an overall rating for a particular cable in any of the five categories above. The results from the five respondents were then resistance of 5 ohms and 11.700 pF of added together to give these results. capacitance. The first obvious result of the physical 24 - ETI December 1986 Four SimpleWays Louis A Chants a-- - and Associates Pty Ltd - Dale Potenuoree,er Zero Leeet dB 5V^' to Improve the Sound 6 7 e - te ,_ nu of Your Music VOLTAGE AT TERMINALS OF SPEAKER KEF CLO WHEN FEO THROUGH CABLE 7

2112 TO 2kH2

Monster Cable's Interlink Reference A and Interlink Special Featuring "Bandwidth Balanced' Technology

Interlink Reference A Our Finest Cable 5000 0000 20000 o 50 100 200 500 000 2000 Speed' rmJsec Paper Speed. Design lets you Re -discover your Favorite Music. _ Lowe. Urn Free. -_ ~ea __. _ r ... nerroe ___ ..3 Rends. _ __ Interlink Reference A is recognized worldwide as the best sounding interconnect available. Winner Figure 4. Louis having funl Frequency response in the audio band of speaker being driven by coaxial of International Audio Review's "Engineering cable. The graph Is almost entirely due to the cable, since all the other cables in the test produced Achievement Award" and flagship of the Interlink responses that were essentially flat within the audio band. Series, Interlink Reference A sets a new standard for audio cable performance. The finest example Louis AChalks '--- of our "Bandwidth Balanced®" design features aed Associates Ply Ltd - - - Paenhometer,._ Zero Leal d8 3 wire networks to provide ultra -wide bandwidth .L f s_ e ,+, a and absolute phase coherency over the entire audio spectrum. Audiophiles agree. The sonic VOLTAGE AT improvements are worth every penny. TERMINALS OF .A w11.1 SPEAKER 18L Standard -Bandwidth 1110 Count Balanced" WHEN FEO Construction Constnriton THROUGH Ten-gaWsed.. CABLE 7 Center .2 J Conductors 200Hz TO 200kHz Mid Frequencies Bass Huth Freqen es

1-+ Interlink Special High Technology Puts t Big Performance into a Small Package. Based on the same "Bandwidth Balanced" technology incorporated in Interlink Reference A. Interlink Special is smaller and more flexible. Ex- tended frequency extremes, superb transients, incredible instrument clarity, and an outstanding 0000 50 100 200 500 CO3 7000 5000 3 -dimensional image, make Interlink Special tarr.iasiiteq; W W tina Speed: mm/see Paper Speed. rk Rernriar: _- second only to one. Interlink 4 testing was the extent to which a high also measurable and although not necessarily A Price/Performance Breakthrough... resistance speaker lead, particularly a long audible in terms of a signal level change, they Now Monster Cable's "Bandwidth Balanced" tech- is in a very smear. My assessment also would add to the other electrical effects, nology yours affordable, compact one, can cause package. dual inner each with quality particularly at lower frequencies. Even with a Using conductors, showed that longer cables and lower 2 wire networks. Interlink 4 delivers sound quality whose was amplifiers further exacerbated this problem. selected short test cable resistance that other "audiophile cables" can't match at any I decided to extend the testing to assess the only 0.025 ohms and with 116 pF of price. We invite comparison with the competition. variations in supply voltage at the terminals capacitance, the voltage at the speaker cables Interlink CD Fulfilling the Promise of Digital of the two speakers by using a sweep started to droop at 150 kHz. The obvious Conventional cables run out of breath when trying the ranges 2 to 2000 Hz conclusion to be drawn is that if your oscillator covering to cope with today's digital sound. The detailed has very low fundamental and 200 Hz to 200 kHz. In each case the loudspeaker a resolution, awesome dynamic range, and power- results were plotted with a level recorder impedance, displays high resonant frequency ful bottom end available from digital are lost when using an expanded scale (0.2 dB per division) impedances and/or is driven by an amplifier you use ordinary interconnect cables. Interlink CU lower for each of the cables. - whose damping factor is than that controls high frequency phase shifts to produce On a whim, I added some standard 75 which I used, then you are likely to a richer musical sound while minimizing the ohm coaxial cable, with 5.13 ohms resistance experience a non -uniformity of signal with harshness found in some CD program material. and 11.7 nF of capacitance. respect to varying frequency at your speaker Connect yours with Interlink CD. non will The results produced were disconcerting terminals. The degree of -uniformity iriTIRInk and displayed a degree of non-linearity which vary from case to case; I deliberately chose to is totally unacceptable (see Figure 4). How- use one of the best amplifiers for the purpose Write for a free brochure. ever, this is not the sort of cable that most so as to minimize that problem. Convoy International Pty. Ltd. people use for their speakers and the The last series of tests performed involved 400 Botany Road, capacitance imposed on the amplifier is driving an artificial loudspeaker (shown in 'Alexandria. 2015 considerably more than any amplifier manu- Figure 1) and the two previously used Tel: (02) 698 7300 facturer would recommend. loudspeakers with a series of off-set pulses, The variations produced by cable A were each with a pulse width of 0.2 ms. These 1UOÍLSÍé7I.GL.LC' ETI December 1986 - 25 SOUND REVIEW

Figure 2. Tone burst of 70 Hz. The upper trace is the input. The lower trace Is the Figure 5. impulse test for cable A, with total resistance approaching 1 ohm. output after being passed through a total lead resistance of 0.73 ohms. The upper trace Is the amplifier output. The lower trace is at the terminals of the KEF C 40 speaker.

revealed that 'as soon as the speaker lead up visible was the front of the speakers. were judged the same, or if the respondent resistance approaches 1 ohm, the high In addition, any of the test team who had was unsure of the answer. frequency ringing effects become quite pro- contact with the respondents before the test, The results are displayed in Table 2. The nounced and the resulting signal fed to the were not told about the labelling of the possible range is ± 30. If all respondents speaker is no longer a faithful reproduction of cables or the order of presentation, so that had consistently agreed that any particular the original (see Figure 5). it was impossible for them to know which cable was better or worse it could have particular were cables being presented. amassed 30 points in either direction. If Actually, the blind was so Subjective good that even respondents disagreed among themselves, tests after the tests were complete, we had little or were inconsistent, or were unsure of a To try to tell whether cables make an audible idea which cable had performed best. That difference, then the nett result should be difference to an amplifier/speaker combin- only 0. emerged after we had done a bit of What information can we extract from ation, we set up a panel of five people who statistical work the on results. the Table? Firstly, no cable came remotely deal professionally with sound, and might To do the test we alternated two passages close to the maximum in any therefore be expected to have dimension we reasonably of music, Handel's Music for the Royal tested, indicating either discriminating ears. considerable dis- Fireworks and Vivaldi's Four Seasons. agreement There were six among the panel or considerable cables to be tested labelled Although probably not ideal, the opening doubt within A to F, and referred to themselves. as such throughout the passages of both tracks have significant Some tests. confidence that this is a fair We decided the best strategy would be dynamic range and a structure that would assessment of the situation comes from the to do a series of A/B tests, so that respondents allow easy assessment of bass and treble fact that the strongest difference shown in could be asked to make a simple evaluation response. the table is in the treble response, which is of 'better' or 'worse'. This meant each person First, 30 seconds of music was played what one would expect on the basis would have to listen to 15 pairs of the of cables, a then cables changed at the power amplifier theory sketched considerable load, above. but more reliable than and the speaker and the same 30 seconds of In asking all the other areas the results seem a them to try to order six cables at one music replayed. With a little practice, it little inconclusive. If this was a random time. proved possible to effect the change in about sample test to decide if there were This test structure also allowed us to test 10 seconds. differences in sound quality, the tests would each respondent's replies for internal consist- The passages of music alternated with be definitely inconclusive. More respon- ency. So, if A was better than B, and B better every comparison. In addition we played dents would be needed to support than C, then A must be better than C. Clearly, an the passages in a different order to each hypothesis that there were a respondent who claimed to hear significant differences, respondent, so that cables A and B were differences. but was inconsistent, would not be as reliable tested with the Vivaldi on the first respon- However, if instead we view the tests as as one who always got it right. dent, and with the Handel on the second. In being the vote of five audio experts, then we Respondents were asked to differentiate this way we hoped to control any spurious can conclude that some cables volume, absence of noise, and can sound quality of effects imposed by our choice of music or superior to the listener. treble, mid range, and base response. the order of presentation. Put another way, it would seem from our We varied the order in which the cables table that there was little difference were presented, to try to control any bias between Subjective results cables. However, the response that might otherwise creep in. of many of Our audio experts claimed to hear our panel members when we In order to eliminate any pulled aside preconceptions, differences in a majority of tests, despite a the the curtain and showed them what we were respondents were not told beforehand gap of about 10 seconds between pieces, doing, was that they were surprised by the what they were testing, merely that they which would not maximize their ability to extent of the difference they had heard. were listening to a comparison of "high judge differences. A generalized rule therefore quality hi-fi systems". The test set-up was might be, To quantify the results, we awarded I that hidden speaker cable does make a difference, behind a theatrical 'black', a large point to a cable judged better in each test, -1 but it's small, and it's difficult to say exactly opaque drape. The only part of the test set - to one judged inferior and 0 if the cables what it is. 26 - ETI December 1986 Goldring means many different things... Styli, cartridges, cassette cleaners, headphones, jack leads and a myriad of high quality audio and video accessories. ...now it means something extra... audio-technica Goldring is now sole distributor for the magnificent Audio-Technica range of superior audio products. Quality products for the connoisseur of sound.

For further information about these and other Goldring products please contact: GOIDRIAG® cj ®AUDIO inrwsnRIEs Sydney: Newcastle: Melbourne: Goldring Audio industries Jensen Distributors Goldring Audio industries Suite 1, 89 Chandos Street, 35 Downie Street 46 Gladstone Street, St. Leonards, 2065 Wickham, 2293 South Melbourne, 3205 (02) 439 3100 (049) 69 1333 (03) 690 4333 Western Australia: Brisbane: South Australia: Tasmania: S.J. Pontague & Associates Goldring Audio Industries Goldring Distributors Tasmanian Record Company 432 Murray Street, 40D Milson Street 25 Hutt Street, 10 Cameron Street Perth, 6000 Cooparoo, 4151 Adelaide, 5000 Launceston, 7250 (09) 321 4567 (07) 398 8044 (08) 224 0266 (003) 31 5588 VLSI TESTING

VLSI DEVICE TESTING Brian Dance M.Sc.

The modem silicon circuit design engineer can perform all of his milliseconds. design and circuit Random test patterns can be generated testing work while using a graphics computer either by using circuitry on the chip being terminal. Ten to 20 years ago he would have been sitting at a work tested or by means of external circuitry. bench, holding a soldering iron, while They are employed when it is not easy to get constructing and testing well defined test vectors. A random test much simpler circuits. Plessey is leading the way in new very pattern for a particular chip comprises a large scale integrated circuit fixed sequence of pseudo -random numbers, testing procedures. the complexity of the pattern depending on both the chip complexity and on the fault IDEALLY THE VLSI designer should be as the square of the chip complexity. VLSI coverage required. able to exhaustively test his integrated chips may, therefore be partitioned into Fault simulators are extremely computer circuits for 100 per cent fault coverage. simpler units, each of which may have no intensive with computer time increasing such Unfortunately testing is a practical more than 5000 individually testable logic very rapidly as the device increases in impossibility, since modern VLSI silicon gates. complexity. Simulation times for classic chip complexity is doubling about every 18 If a device is not to be exhaustively tested simulators of a device with a complexity of months (see Figure 1). Nevertheless, it is the designer may obtain a certain degree of the order of 1000 logic gates is likely vitally to be important for the designer to strive fault coverage through the use of either measured in minutes, whereas that for to obtain the highest degree of fault deterministic patterns or random patterns. 5000 -gate devices could take hours of the coverage possible within a reasonable test- Deterministic patterns are devised by the central processor unit's time. Simulation ing time. designer of the circuit using his knowledge times increase as the square of the chip Testing is regarded as the Achilles heel of of the device structure. For example, he complexity and testing is often limited by the VLSI industry to the point that it has knows how to find a limited set of test the fault simulation process. become one of the first considerations in vectors, perhaps a maximum of 2000, VLSI design. Testability problems may which can be used to test with a 10 MHz Ldegacell account for as much as 20 per cent chip of clock in parallel in a little over one The Plessey Megacell system is a semi - design time in some cases. This article millisecond or serially in some 30 to 40 custom, cell-based hierarchical VLSI design briefly outlines the nature of the problem and discusses the philosophy adopted by Plessey for the testing facilities in its new Plessey Megacell semicustom system. Principles The testing of VLSI memory devices is carried out by feeding suitable test signal patterns to the device inputs. In relatively simple devices all of the memory states can be examined by testing every location in the memory. A device with n memory elements has 2^ possible states which ideally should all be tested. If there are 22 memory elements in a device, the number of states is 222 = 4194304. These can all be tested in just under 0.5 seconds using a 10 MHz clock rate test pattern inputting a test vector every 100 nanoseconds. If, however, a device contains 32 memory elements, the number of possible states rises to 212 = 4.29 x 109. If a 10 MHz test pattern is employed, the time for exhaustive testing approaches 500 seconds or about eight minutes. A 42 -memory element device with 242 = 4.39 x 1012 states would need a time of nearly 5 x 103 seconds or over five days of continuous testing with a 10 MHz clock pattern. This is out of the question for device production. The time for exhaustive testing increases 28 - ETI December 1986 The test registers perform a useful function in normal chip operation even when testing is not being undertaken. They can be used as parallel data latches - a frequent requirement in chips designed for synchronous operation. Testing flexibility One of the main aims of the Megacell system has been to provide device designers with maximum flexibility in testing. Megacell leaves the designer free to choose whether he wishes to use the testability tools provided and, if so, how he will use them. The designer decides what is to be a testable unit, but he is not under any constraint to use a particular form of testing. It is recognized that some people prefer to adopt their own approach to testability. Figure 1. Increase of chip complexity over time (courtesy Plessey). Plessey claims that the flexibility and user-friendliness of the Megacell system are technique. It has been planned as a Megacell test features unique. Although many other commercial complete software tool set which enables The Megacell design system provides the systems offer scan path facilities no others engineers to create, lay out and test chips, chip designer with a means of partitioning are known which offer signature analysis and to control design projects from sche- VLSI devices into testable units. It does this tools. The ability to offer the designer the matic capture to mask making without the by providing the option of using two choice of testing techniques is claimed to be assistance of chip design experts. Megacell functions: test registers and test interface original to the Megacell system. currently employs 2 -micron CMOS tech- units. The test registers are placed between Megacell can be used to design fully self- nology. However, it is planned to im- the various testable units of the chip and testing chips. That is, the test pattern can be plement the system with 1.5 -micron and can be programmed either for normal chip generated on -chip and the response to these with I -micron CMOS technologies now operation or for the test modes. The patterns can be analysed on -chip to provide under development so as to improve the registers are controlled through the test a single go/no-go signal. speed capability and the chip complexity. interface units which also provide a means . Self testing chips require that a part of the Current designs are limited to about 30,000 of inputting and outputting test data. silicon be allocated to the testing facility. gates or some 120,000 transistors per chip. The Megacell test registers are program- Plessey Research (Caswell) has designed However, Megacell has been developed mable for operation in various test modes, devices in which the built-in self test area with the specific objective of being able to the test patterns being serially loaded in and amounts to under 5 per cent of the total cater in due course for chips with over out through test registers. Once the test chip, but even 20 per cent to 30 per cent 100,000 gates. Extensive software aids are pattern has been loaded, it can be employed may be justified in some cases for pro- available to enable system designers to in a straight scan path mode. However, the duction testing. produce their own VLSI designs without the registers can also be configured as either However, self testing is not employed necessity of understanding the detailed pseudo-random pattern generators or as a merely for ascertaining if chips coming operation of their silicon circuits. parallel signature analyser where data is from the production line are satisfactory. It The increasing chip complexity is causing loaded into a register to initialize it. In can also be employed to detect defects semi -custom designers to favour cells rather partial testing, the process can be stopped if occurring during system operation in the than gate arrays, but large numbers of it is taking too long. field. The system manufacturer may require specialized cells must be designed and The response to the test patterns is fed goods inward testing, system production verified at high cost for a range of into a signature analyser register at the testing and field support system testing. applications if designers are not to be output; many successive input operations Although a testing overhead of only 5 per restricted to only standard -size cells. For should result in a certain final state which is cent may be too expensive for some chip Megacell, Plessey had adopted a three-tier predictable by computer. Although manufacturers, the trade-off limits may be hierarchy of Microcells, Paracells and Megacell has signature analysis built in as very different for the equipment manufac- Supracells. Microcells are standard low an option for the designer to use if he so turer. The end -user can specify that a chip level logic cells such as the gates, latches and wishes, Plessey recognizes it is not a shall be completely self testing; Megacell D -type flipflops similar to those in gate aray universal solution. A mixture of scan path can satisfy this requirement, but does not libraries. Supracells are pre -designed and and signature analysis, often referred to as impose it as a requirement. A self testing pre -characterized LSI cells. Paracells are BILBO (built-in logic block observability) facility can be part of the end -user parameterized cells, often of intermediate is often the optimum and both can be specification different from production test- size, which are automatically generated by mixed on the same chip. The choice of scan ing. the Megacell system in response to par- path or BILBO is not predetermined during The British Alvey program includes work ameters supplied by the system designer. A chip design and can be made at the time of on built-in self testing for VLSI design and RAM or a ROM, for example, could be testing. it is hoped to extend this to wafer scale designed by specifying the word length and Suitable control signals fed to the on -chip integration in due course. Plessey Research the number of words. The software contest interface unit can be employed to (Caswell) Ltd is participating in the Alvey, structs the cell and adds it to the user specify the particular type of test and test Esprit and CATE work which aims to library. Thus a large range of applications sequence for each of the testable units on improve our understanding of VLSI chip can be handled by a fairly small cell library. the chip. testability problems. ETI December 1986 - 29 BIOCHIPS

BIOCHEMICAL COMPUTER CHIPS Collette Snowden Collette Snowden is Information Officer at the University ofAdelaide.

Advances in existing computer technology continue to occur at a hectic pace, but even more spectacular change is possible with the advent of biochemical computer chips.

IMAGINE THE BIGGEST super- computer of today reduced to the size of five sugar cubes, or truly microscopic replacement parts for the human body. Practical production of molecular -sized chips would make this possible. Pioneering work in the field of molecular electronics which would make such ideas feasible is being carried out at the Univer- sity of Adelaide by Michael Groves, a PhD student in the Department of Computer Science. Groves has produced theoretical proof that wave-like particles, known as solitons, can be used to emulate the logical circuits of Computers. Solitons, although still regarded as theoretical despite a good deal of evidence to support their existence, would offer the necessary properties required to build computers using molecular components rather than existing solid-state silicon components. The implications of this theory are vast, and developed to a practical stage are capable of revolutionizing computer technology. Biochemical circuits would offer immense reductions in size, even in comparison to the most modern silicon chips. The components in the proposed biochip would be linked by single strands of polyacetylene, which is a plastic capable of conducting electricity and which consists of a chain of carbon atoms with alternating double and single bonds between them. It is believed that when a soliton passes along a polyacetylene chain it reverses the arrangement of the double bonds and as there can be only two arrangements of the bonds (single-double or double -single) their position can be used to store binary (0 or I) information. The familiar silicon variety. Here four chips are fitted into a space of five square mil. 30 - ETI December 1986 M A R K for JAPANESE ICs & TRANSISTORS The use of biochips would also lead to constructed in test -tubes by chemical OEM Quantity prices available significant power savings because the two means. arrangements of double bonds indicate "Though the molecules required are very whether a chain is on or off, and the passage small compared to conventional elec- NEC of a single electron (in the form of a soliton) tronics, they are very large and complex in would represent a chain going from on to off chemical terms. We know it is possible to or off to on, instead of the need in construct much larger molecules because conventional circuits for a constant current they exist in everyday biology. Remember to indicate whether a wire is on or off. that trees and whales are formed entirely by The basis of Michael Groves' work is that chemical means," he said. given a switch, a way to generate solitons "The components for biochips could be and a way to join polyacetylene chains constructed and joined together using the together, it is possible to make gates, self assembly properties of proteins and memories and other necessary components possibly even using cells to act as little required to form a computer. factories. One of the advantages offered by Further impetus has been given to the the use of cells as biochip factories is that search to find a workable biochip by the every time a cell is divided another factory need to find computer components smaller is born." than those currently available because All the chemicals required to form the conventional chips have reached a stage components proposed by Groves are where they cannot be miniaturized much common and cheap and with the possibility further. One of the main problems with of more than a billion components in each existing chips is their tendency to over -heat gram of starting material he believes the and 'cross-talk'. The chemical biochip cost per unit would be extremely small. would eliminate this problem and lead to Greater savings would also be possible further miniaturization. because the mass production of electrical The implications inherent in the use of components could be accomplished by one biochips have led to an increased interest in worker in a few months in a chemical the idea of building electronic circuits by laboratory. chemical means in recent years. Interest too "Making the switch should take less than has been fanned by the advent of conduct- a year so I am looking for funding myself ing polymers and greater knowledge of how and possibly a chemical assistant," he said. biological systems form large molecules. Groves' research has received attention Furthermore, semiconductor research is overseas in journals such as High Tech- rapidly approaching practical and theoreti- nology, Science News and The Economist. cal limits in attempting to form smaller and Interest in biochips in Australia has been more powerful circuits on silicon. sadly lacking whereas in Japan the Govern- "As my theoretical work progressed, the ment has announced a $30 million fund to sN nature of the basic components required coordinate the biochip research efforts of became clearer and the structures for them their major electronic companies. The \,-`\\\, became simpler. I am also aiming to Japanese Ministry of International Trade mathematically verify the working of a and Industry has devised the basic develop- soliton circuit. This theoretical work is now ment plan of bio-elements and made the SANYO largely completed," Groves has explained. plan a new theme for the Research and He said that the next stage would be to Development Project of Basic Technology MITSUBISHI work and the long road for Future Industries. start on the practical $ to creating a biochip. The Japanese MITI plans to do theoreti- *., "The first step will be to make the soliton cal basic research for 10 years and achieve switch but I have developed quite simple understanding by the joint efforts ofgovern- structures for the switch that should be ment and industry with participation by quite easy to make." electronics, electrical and chemical firms. Once the switch is made the next step in In Britain $AII million has been allo- MATSUSHIT the development of a biochip would be to cated to biochip research. Significant re- join the switches together in simple gates search efforts are also being made in the and verify their workings by chemical United States particularly at the Naval means while they are in solution. Research Centre in Washington where Dr "This is an important new idea I have Forrest Carter is one of the foremost figures FUJITSU developed because it enables chemical in the field of molecular electronics. Send for listing computation to be demonstrated and stud- However, the contribution of researchers ied before the problem of how to make like Michael Groves could place Australia electrical connections to tiny molecules is in the forefront of this important area of M A these gates can be connected to- computer technology. solved; PTY. LTD. gether into larger and larger structures 167 Roden St., West Melbourne, which are eventually connected to external Victoria 3003 electronics," he said. Reprintedfrom Ascent published by the (03)3295433 Telex AA37753 Groves asserts that biochips could be Department ofScience. Phone: ETI December 1986 - 31 .PC INSTRUMENTING

INSTRUMENTING WITH PCs

The ultimate tool of the electronics trade is beginning to look like the Jon Fairall PC. But the variety of arrangements it can be used in make it anything but the end of the line.

WHEN IBM entered personal computing it The standard possible to pick up CAD packages for was a major tragedy for PC connoisseurs. The existence of the standard has meant that hundreds, instead of hundreds of thousands, The speeding engines of change that had the cutting edge of technology has moved of dollars. Packages like Smartwork or Protel taken the personal computer from a backyard from hardware to software. Stuck with'a (reviewed in ETI September and October, '86 toy to a major performer were finally halted. particular architecture, engineers have come respectively) sell for less than $1000. As time Innovative and exciting computer com- up with new and exciting software that makes has gone by, more and more of the features panies around the world bit the dust. It was the typical PC look very smart indeed. that were once the realm of top-end units a disaster. The resúlt has been a whole list of industry have become available on PC-based pack- standard That, at least, is the view from the software, like Lotus, Wordstar and ages. Nowadays it's possible to get features computer makers' side. From the viewpoint dBase II. The innovation cycle has slowed to like auto routing and logic testing on PC - the extent that of the serious user, however, it looks a little it's become possible to train based CAD for under $20,(X)0. non different. To be sure, the development of new -specialist staff. secretaries, bank clerks, Another development, really an extension product has been slowed, and you only have lawyers, in the mysteries, not of computers, of the CAD work, has been the emergence of but to compare one of the new 16 -bit machines of a particular hardware/software com- .PC-based microcomputer development sys- like Commodore's Amiga with your typical bination. tems. The story here is the same. Not very clone to see what might have been. But on the Computers have snuck up on the world, long ago, these were dedicated units with big other hand we now have a standard. and the world has barely noticed. price tags. Now we are beginning to see such The emergence of this standard has been The new standard has also attracted units hanging off the back of a PC, and the working one of a number of trends that are starting to engineers. For the first time it has price is tumbling. become change the nature of the instruments we use possible to invest in software For instance, Philips has just released a in day to day electronics. development with reasonable confidence that system called PMDS-111 that uses a PC and the target market will have access to suitable a box of software to give high level language The new instruments look unfamiliar. For hardware. The result is increasingly that debugging and real time emulation up to 16 the most part they are simply black boxes, a testing procedures, once involving dedicated MHz. It has cross -compilers, assemblers, few connectors, and an LED on the front expensive equipment, are being designed debug processors and all the other tools of the panel to tell you it's on. But they do the job, around the PC. development engineer built in. and they do it well. So, where have these For instance, the last year has seen the strange devices come from, and do they really emergence of cheap, usable computer aided point to the future? design (CAD) packages. All of a sudden it's Processors While all this has been going on, the winds of change have been blowing through the instrument industry. The big trend is towards the use of microprocessors in test equipment to give them a degree of intelligence. There seem to be two engines driving this trend One moves towards greater flexibility in the instrument, the other towards reducing the complexity of specific tests. fam1O A product of the first trend might be any of 11I a number of the processor -controlled oscillo- vit 0- dyMvd scopes, signal generators or counters that are now pouring out from the instrument V r .w{v e makers. The processor can be used to make the instrument easier to use, to display the information more precisely or to interface to other pieces of equipment. For instance, it's quite common now to finds oscilloscopes that can drive a plotter to give a hard copy of a waveform, or that will set themselves intelligently to display a given input. The other side of the coin is to use the processor to bundle together a number of The HP Instrument System (reviewed ETI September '85). different instruments to create one composite 32 - ETI December 1986 }

I i E

irir, r a , y C -"'.--

Analyse 8-, 16- and 32 -bit microprocessors with your PC. instrument for specific purposes. This is a allow 16 analogue and 32 digital inputs and standard GW BASIC resident in the system. is that newer trend, confined at the moment to a few 16 relay outputs to be controlled directly One of the most powerful features instruments from some of the larger makers. from the bus. the software allows one to interface directly Marconi, for instance, has just released a with standard software, like Wordstar, Lotus cellular radio test set that will perform all of The PC or VisiCalc. This makes data message, the the measurements necessary to test a cellular So to the latest trend, emerging slowly from production of reports and so on, a simple radio. It functions like a amalgam of 12 these ideas about the shape and function of matter. separate instruments in one box. instruments. It's the arrival of test instruments that hang off the PC like any other The future Control peripheral. The philosophy is simple. The PC The question is does this represent the future? stand Another trend worth noting is the emergence can do certain things rather well. It's an ideal There are a number of alternatives: a dedicated of the idea of controlling instruments through operator's input device, and an excellent alone instruments, hooked up to instru- control busses, of which the IEEE488 and its display tool. It can also be programmed for controller via a bus; mu ltifunctioning proprietary derivatives must be the most sequential and conditional operation. So, to ments in one box; or adaptations of general functions common. make a useful instrument out of it, all that's purpose computers into instrument This leads naturally to the idea of the necessary is a bit of hardware to turn a via add-ons. learned from automatic test station, in which a computer measurement from the outside world into If there is a lesson to be it would that the PC rules. By can be made to control the instruments, get a something the computer can understand. In history, be we would the read-out and display it in some way for the this way it's possible to create oscilloscopes, analogy with CAD, expect so that more and operator. The details of this set-up are multimeters, generators and all the other ability of the PC to increase avail- frequently very complex, but the fundamen- paraphernalia that clutter up a lab bench. more of the functions presently only become avail- tal architecture is simple enough. A board All this is starting to come together now in able on expensive equipment prices. Program- under test is inserted into a jig. The central the form of the PC instrument controller. A able at cheaper and cheaper exercise, and we may expect computer might instruct a signal generator to number of products have already reached the ming is a trivial so as time passes. inject a particular frequency into an input. market that display many of these features. it to become even more with the bus The oscilloscope will read the output, and For instance, in the middle of last year In general, the problem ít ís horrendously expensive. feed the required dimensions back to the Hewlett-Packard was first on the market with approach ís that an ordinary instru- master, where a go/no go decision will be its "Instruments System". The cost is the cost of of installing bus made and the results displayed to the The HP development consisted of a ment, plus the cost Then is the cost of writing operator. digitizing oscilloscope, a counter, a function interfaces. there on a particular IEEE488 has been around for a number of generator and a multimeter, all in separate software to do a particular job cycles that and the structure of the bus and its modules that hang off the back of either HP's board. Given the short product life years, industry at the mo- peripherals is starting to get extremely own clone, the HP-150 or the IBM-PC itself. plague the electronics doing this must be sophisticated. For instance, Scientific De- It used a 20M hard disk and 51/4 floppy for ment, the economics of vices, the Melbourne-based instrument dist- data storage. One advantage of using the HP very unattractive. one practical ributor, is now selling devices that will allow computer is that it comes with a touch screen, However, the PC offers value: consists of stand one controller to operate four separate busses, which makes operating the devices extremely advantage of great it In a practical working or conversely, one instrument to be time- easy. alone instruments. it be of great value to shared between a number of different bus The system can be operated in two modes. environment, might that can be part of an architectures. You can expand the bus by up Firstly there is a manual mode, in which the have a simple CRO network one minute and work as to 14 instruments at a time, optically couple operator can select the instrument, and then instrument next. It can also be them if interference or noise is a problem, or set it up, using the touch screen or the a stand alone the will for the same use twisted pairs when it is not. Scientific keyboard. Secondly, and more powerfully, expanded or upgraded at Devices is also selling an interface that will the instruments can be programmed using a reason. ETI December 1986 - 33 FEED FORWARD

READER SERVICES: All enquiries regarding bock issues, photocopies of articles, artwork or technical enquiries roust be directed by mail to ED' Edetaúae Reader Services, PO Box 227, Water- loo, NSW 2017. Enclose cheque or Perhaps the most interesting single nx,iey order to the appropriate value problem facing the electronics Industry today relates to with the funding of research and your request Relevant charges in- development: how should it be done, who should do It and who cluding postage within Australia and should get the results? There is a tendency New to think that this type of debate Is a purely Zealand are' back issues $4; Australian concern. It's not. It is photostat being constantly argued around the world copies: $4 per article or S8 and small. by countries big if project spreads over more than ore issue: artwork S5 In some countries the per board or panel debate takes an interesting twist. In communist countries it's mixed up to 10 cm2 or equivalent. $10 for up with Ideological questions about larger control of the economy in general. In the US, on the boards. other hand, the debate is couched In terms that make it difficult to know that support for electronics Is being discussed at TECHNICAL ENQUIRIES: No enquiries all. by telephone will In the American view be accepted It's Ideologically unsound for the government to give hand-outs to Readers have two options' to submit private companies for any reason other than that of national defence. The government has a written enquiry with $5 money order role in the market no or Breque place, except perhaps as the umpire. and receive a postal reply; The event that this service is limited to projects pub- brought this into focus was President Reagan's Strategic Defence Initiative lished within the last five years; alter- (SDI), and the failure of arms control talks at Reykjavik. natively they may forward enquiry The question to ask is : "Why doesn't without arms control work?". And the answer is, at least partially, nxxiey and expect a pub- because It's not in lished reply in the Feed Forward col- anyone's interest to make It work. Both the US and the Soviets have huge umns at the editor's discretion. infrastructures built up for military expenditure. With those billions of dollars goes prestige, and the power and creation of a large section of the community with a vested Interest in the GENERAL INQUIRIES: For all inquiries continued flow of that money. about back issues, twriptions, The view, until recently, was that photocopies of articles. artwork or military spending made very good economic sense. After all, the US submitting articles, call (02) 663.9999 boomed during the war, and it's boomed ever since In times of stress. It's when the a write to. Ell Reader Services, 180 international scene is quiet, and military spending is down, that depressions set in. Bourke Rd, Alexandria, NSW 2015 (PO But Increasingly there are people starting to Box 227. Waterloo, NSW 2017). question the military and economic might view. Long range planners see the powerhouses of Asia breathing down Uncle Sam's neck, and they worry. Already, the US is CONTRIBUTIONS: surrendering world dominance In Industry after Submissions must alone, the Industry. In electronics be accompanied by a stamped, self- Japanese have taken over as integrated circuit masters makers. and threaten as computer addressed envelope The publisher No American even tries to make consumer electronics any more. accepts no responsibility for unsolic- And Increasingly cOmes the ited material realization that military money doesn't really buy products, except in civilian rare cases. To be sure, the Pentagon mode the Boeing 747 Aussat, but it doesn't produce possible, and COPYRIGHT: The contents of Electron- better cars, or TVs. Indeed, it is notable that the countries that ics Today lnternohorat and associated now threaten the economic might of the US are ones that have little indigenous R&D. publications is fully protected by the In fact, military the new wisdom Is that military spending sucks money out of the Commonwealth Copyright Act (1968). otherwise be system that might Copyright to available for propping up companies while they extends all written rho- new research economically viable terfal. photographs, drawings, circuit products. diagrams and printed -circuit boards Unfortunately, the Japanese have no problem with hand-outs, and use them to build up Although any form of reproduction is Industry after industry. Neither do the o breech of copyright, we ore Europeans. The Russians, of course, thrive it. rot Australia we are at last on Even in concerned about individuals con- beginning to understand the benefit of an R&D grant. So the US structing protects for their own private is presented with a problem: in a world where everyone gives use, nor by bards (for example) con- production hand-outs for the of a better mousetrap, how can US companies structing one or more items for in compete? The answer is surely not use to build an X-ray laser in the hope that connection with their performances. someone will turn it into a mousetrap. Ideology, of Commercial organisations course, is a powerful blindfold, but the should Americans have a wonderful history of adjusting theirs note that no project or part project so they can see a pot of gold. described in Electronics Today Interna- tional or associated publications may This Month be offered for sale, or sold in substan- ETI celebrates the end of an eventful tially or fully assembled 1986 on a high note. We have the first 16-bit form, unless o project published in this computer licence hos been specifically ob- country, developed by a couple of enthusiastic Sydney. For those of you engineers from tained so to do from the publisher, who like things that go 'bang' when you turn them on, we The Federal Publishing of our have the rest Company, or 300 W power supply article, the biggest power supply article ever from the copyright holders. those who like it sweet, published. And for Neale Hancock, who left recently to go to AWA discusses his swan -song, a microelectronics, UABILITY: Comments and test results rather nice little noise reduction system. on equipment reviewed Discerning readers will notice that all this refer to the month's projects were designed and built in particular item submitted for review Australia by Australians, as indeed has been and may rot every project this year. As competing magazines necessarily pertain to Increase the overseas Content of their other units of the same make projects, we at ETI are more determined or bring you the best of than ever to model number, Whilst every effort has home grown talent on our project pages. been made to ensure that We think it's a policy all con- that will pay off In the long run. Apart from anything else, we find structional projects referred to in this a major source ourselves of projects for overseas magazines. ETI edition will !prate as projects were published overseas on 14 indicated effi- different occasions last year in the ciently and properly and that all nec- - UK, Germany, France, Brazil, the US, Indonesia, Canada essary components to rrarxttacture and Holland. the same will - be available, ro re- Congratulations are in order, both to our own engineers, and sponsibility is cccepted in respect of to our many contributors. the failure for any reason al all of the Next Month protect to operate effectively or of all To start 1987, we will be bringing out our first year whether due to any fault in book, already In frenzied preparation as I write design or this. It will be a compendium of great otherwise orid no responsibility is ac- holiday reading on all that's new and wonderful, with for some great research cepted the failure to obtain any tools for the rest of the year, not least being a complete list of .Component pans in respect of any back to 1971. projects such project Further, ro responsibility Merry Christmas from all the staff at ETI. is accepted in respect of any injury or damage caused by any mutt in the Jon Foirall design of any such prefect as afore said Editor

34 - ETI December 1986 latere to. de Edctoz

several unfavourable test results, which áre the result of the ON TURBINE ENGINES way the machines were set up at the factory, and not a true a ability. I do not sell any of the I REFER TO F. Martin's letter (ETI September '86) proposing measure of each machine's timing unit that will maintain engine idling speed for up to machines tested, but believe it is Important to fully explore There is two minutes after switch -off. This is in order to provide a turbo - their potential in order to fully inform the reader. boosted engine with sumcient lubricating oil after the turbine obviously a limit to the time that can be spent reviewing has been working to prevent damage to the turbine's equipment, and this particular test would have been very bearings. exacting. Nonetheless, where adjustable performance falls In limits, should be made, or While I cannot see any intrinsic technical problem outside the desirable adjustments designing an electronic timing unit for that purpose, I think failing that, the report should indicate that such adjustments To It would have only taken a few that I would feel uncomfortable with an engine that did not are possible. be specific, stop immediately after the ignition was turned off. Suppose minutes to correctly set the speed of the Vesta Fire and a fault develops In the timing unit. You leave the car parked Fostex units internally. That would not have affected any while you go off to work. The switch Is turned off, the doors are other results, of course, but would have not created the locked, the engine is Idling. However, you come back eight impression that these units would always run fast. hours later to find the engine still running. Another example: A little more time-consuming is bias adjustment. Without you drive your car into the garage at night, lock the doors doubt, most reviewers would claim that this is outside the and off to supper. The engine runs for up two minutes and the scope of their job and that If the factory or distributors do not garage becomes filled with toxic carbon monoxide gas. supply adequate set-up equipment then the customer Little Johnny goes into the garage unaware of the danger. should know about it. Partly true, but that can also prevent The possibility is just a little disconcerting, Is it not? people obtaining the most suitable tool for their work I don't own a car with a turbo -boosted engine, nor do I because of a misunderstanding. consider myself knowledgeable on turbo systems. However, In the course of my service work in the last seven years I perform as well as I would suggest that a preferable approach to the problem have found very few new cassette decks is a system which would maintain a flow of oil to the turbine they could. Some, in fact, were abysmal, but within an hour after the engine has stopped. Several possibilities suggest or so were able to produce exceptional results. The themselves: perhaps the simplest is a reservoir which stores tolerances of settings are so precise that if you follow service oil temporarily under pressure generated by the engine's manual settings for bias current, you are unlikely to achieve own oil pump. There is no reason why an enterprising the best, or even satisfactory results. The only reliable way to handyman or hobbyist could not construct something along ensure correct performance from an audio cassette deck is this line from readily available parts. to make minor bias adjustments between short recordings of Just a thought for what it may be worth. appropriate tones, and monitor the playback level on H. Naclnovich appropriate equipment. If you try to make the response too Guigong, NSW flat up the top end, or test with the wrong Input level, you end up with increased distortion. It is obvious, when examining the frequency response of the Vesta Fire MR-10, that the unit was under -biased. This MORE ON MULTITRACKS resulted in a rising high frequency response, and excessive on the inclusion of excellent reports by distortion. Increasing the bias slightly would produce a flat CONGRATULATIONS see a on many varied types of audio equipment. Mr response and acceptable distortion. It is unusual to Louis Challis are over -biased during the last 10 years or so have impressed cassette deck under -biased; mostly they Challis' reports content when me as being technically sound, honest, fair, and informative. which causes a drop In the high frequency Dolby B. This explains why so In regard to tests on audio cassette decks, however, I feel recording, especially with since they can that two important points should be made: many people do not use Dolby in recording, the original and the repro- 1) the speed of a cassette deck, with or without external hear a difference between even with Dolby B, there should be control, is always internally adjustable; duction. Properly biased, I am to report that 2) the frequency response and distortion of a particular no discernible tonal difference. pleased to the bias setting, which is in the last year especially, more new cassette decks are deck are directly related to always Internally adjustable, and sometimes externally properly set up out of the carton, or at least acceptable with a 'bias fine-tuning' control. a good ear. adjustable Wevor Graetz I was In reading the four-way test of the disappointed, Walla Walla, NSW portable multitrack recorders in the October'86 issue, to see

Ca taee l'iGKG!?LR7

FOR SALE: SONNY SCANNER FOR SALE: COMPLETE set of 75 A monthly letter for VZ users featuring BASIC, Assembly ICF-2001 PLL synthesized AM/ ETI magazines from Septem- and hardware details is available If you send SAE to PO FM/SSB/CW and many more ber 1980 to November 1986 Box 154, Dural, NSW 2158. features. Exc condition $240. $250. Jim Berry, 619 (08)268-6469. Burbridge Rd, West Beach, SA 5024.

ETI December 1986 - 35 FEED FOR WARD

Tdea tie 2/(6 (t4 Bar graph display This bar graph display uses C would be respectively bandpass filters to separate 0.O68µ 0.01µ and 0.00lµ. of frequencies In the audio should Ile between 10 Hz and ,spectrum, and shows the 10 kHz.

corresponding amplitudes. As 1411,. such, it could be termed the visual equivalent of a graphic Tw equalizer, allowing one to see the effects of boosting or cutting various frequencies. 14 The incoming signal Is amplified by a factor of 20 by ,--,n.---- " the non -inverting amplifier, ,. w:" IC la. This input signal should be 200 mV or greater. The output from IC la is then fed to the input of each of the filters lw via a 1 k trlmpot. The is trlmpot ..VD used to control the signal Vs U level going to each filter. Various frequencies are sep- I arated out by the first order filter. The formula used to determine the value for centre Oo .., l, frequency of each filter is set out below. The output from the filters Is used to drive the LEDs and any number of filters may be used. u A fF voltage drop is applied .n by the 1N914 diode before the output signal drives the LEDs. The resistors in parallel aG2 M FOR xi.c. Lill ala with the LEDs MX TA, INC 02115*v .,,M4 9 ensure that they 40 ,v am LLD. IC ., . K4,, ,,.... light up in turn, TO according to +axMIL ,n w-. the voltage applied. The 33µ capacitors provide the LEDs with some persistence, by holding a voltage on them. A 9 volt supply Is required when using red LEDs, however, some modifications are re- Touch switch quired If green or yellow LEDs are to be used. Firstly, a 12 volt power supply is required, In this useful touch switch, the also the 1N914 diodes will ON and OFF lines are used to need to be replaced with switch the circuit either way, resistors. and may be implemented as J. Moxham tracks on a pc board. When Umbrae, SA the ON tracks are touched, the Darlington pair of 02 and Values of CI, 2, 3, etc ore 03 Is turned on. the The output determined by cutoff fre- from the Darlington quency desired and are pair cal- switches on the relay. The culated with the formula: ' circuit Is latched on via the fo = 1 4M7 feedback resistor. When the 2nCVR1.R2 OFF tracks are touched, a voltage is placed onto the base of Q1, where C = turning it CI, C2, etc. on. When Q1 Is RI = 10k turned on, the latching current that holds 92 R2=47k ON Is removed, turning For example, If three the filters Darlington pair off. were needed for When this high, mid happens the relay turns and low frequencies, say off. 100 Sean Rodden Hz, 700 Hzand 7 k Hz, values of Forrestvllle, NSW

36 - ETI December 1986 that you Feed Forward needs your minds. If you have ideas for circuits the com- would like to enter in our idea of the month contest, programs for to: puting columns or just want a word with the editor, send your thoughts Feed Forward ETi, Federal Publishing, Crossing lines PO Box 227, Each player In this two player him/her Into o wall or by skilful Waterloo, NSW 2017 uses the for each published idea/program which game Is an ever growing line. driving. One player Contributors can look forward to $20 other the should be submitted with the declaration coupon below. The object of the game Is to keyboard, the Programs MUST be in the form of a listing from a printer. You should in- stay alive longer than your joystick. or dicate which computer the program is for. Letters should be typewritten opponent by either forcing Peter J. Blain be drawn from a printer, preferably with lines double spaced. Circuits can Toormina, NSW roughly, because we have a draughtsman who redraws them anyway, but make sure they are clear enough for us to understand. 00010 CLSTLORES 00100 FOR A.-2032 TO -10 STEP 16 00110 POKE A2,IPEEKIA1) AND 153) 00120 POKE A42,IPEEKIA42) AND 153) 'Idea of the month' contest 00130 POKE A.3,IPEEKIA131 AND 1531 irons and 00140 POKE A6,IPEEKIA61 AND 1531 Scope Laboratories, which manufactures and distributes soldering 00150 POKE A7,1PEEK)A071 AND 1531 accessory tools, is sponsoring this contest with a prize given away every 00160 POKE A09,IPEEKIA8) AND 153) for Exper- 00170 POKE A.11,1PEEKIA111 AND 1531 month for the best item submitted for publication In the 'Ideas 00190 POKE A12,1PEEKIA12) AND 1531 AND imenters' column one of the most consistently popular features in ETI 00190 POKE *4*3,IPEEKI4.13) 153) - Soldering Station 00200 POKE A.14,)PEEKIA141 AND 1531 Magazine. Each month, we will be giving away a Scope 00205 NEXT A (code ETC601) worth approximately $191. 00210 CLS staff of ETI 00220 PRINT 'WELCOME TO THIS GAME' Selections will be made at the sole discretion of the editorial 00230 INPUT 'ENTER NAME OF PLAYER 11) NIS Magazine. 00240 INPUT 'ENTER NAME OF PLATER 121 'N21, 00750 IF NIHN211:PRINT 'SELECT DIFFERENT NAPES':0000 230 00260 PRINT 'A ...UP':PRINT 2 ... DOWN:PRINT ...RIOHT':PRINT ...LEFT. 00270 PRINT 'HIT ANT KEY TO PLAY' 6 00280 LET BD-KEYS:IF 015 THEN 280 00290 OUT 1,255 o 00300 LET X.77:LET Y.0 00310 LET C.77:LET D.47 M N 00320 LET H.1 00330 LET 5.2 00340 CLS 00350 PLOT 0,0 TO 127,0 TO 127,47 TO 0,47 TO 0,0 00360 LET Al4.KEYS J .1 00370 IF A15.A':LET H.1 PRIZE 00380 IF A15'2:LET H.2 00390 IF 9)5.'.:LET H.3 WORTH 00400 IF 415',.: LET 6.4 00410 IF N.1:LET Y.Y1 $191 00420 IF H.2:LET Y.Y-1 1 00430 IF H3:LET X.X1 00440 IF H.4:LET X.0-1 50450 IF POINT 10,01 THEN 600 Q0460 SET 0,9 00.70 A.IN101 00480 4.143-1A AND 143) 00490 B --IA AND 11:IF B THEN LET 8-1:0010 530 00500 11.-/6 AND 21:IF 8 THEN LET 0.2:OOTO 530 00510 8.-1A AND 41:IF B THEN LET 0-3:0070 530 RULES 00520 B --1A AND 8):IF 8 THEN LE7 5-4:0070 530 00530 IF 9.1:LET 01:.l The winning entry will be judged by the Editor of ETI Magazine, whose deci- 00540 IF 5-2:LET D.0-1 can be entered Into regarding the 00550 IF 0.4:LET C.C.', sion will be final. No correspondence 00560 IF 5.3:LET C.0 -t decision. 00570 IF POINT )C,D) THEN 640 of the winner, together 00580 SET C,0 The winner will be advised by telegram. The name ~ye SOTO 360 idea, will be published in the next possible issue of ETI 00600 CLS.PLAY 213151311)3151617151412 with the winning 00610 CLS Magazine. 00620 PRIM NlS' WON' names and addresses where indicated on 0630 SOTO 270 Contestants must enter their 4131211 be accepted. You may 00640 CLSIPLAY 111111114141414 each coupon. Photostats or clearly written copies will 00450 MINT N2S' WON' 00T0 270 send as many entries as your wish. MD660 This contest is invalid in states where local laws prohibit entries. Entrants must sign the declaration on the coupon that they have read the above rules and agree to abide by their conditions. r COUPON Cut and send to: Scope-ETI 'Idea of the Month' Contest] Machine joystick cr Computing Column, Ell Magazine, PO Box 227, This program Is in machine To move two pixels at a time Waterloo NSW 2017. language. It enables you to change the system command International all nghts to with a to SYS(943); three pixels "I agree to the above terms and grant Electronics Today control a sprite object produced by it. I publish my idea/program in ETI Magazine or other publications in port 1. It's possible change to SYS(940); four it has not Joystick declare that the attached idea/program is my own original material, that to vary the speed of the sprite pixels change to SYS(937). and that its publication does not 'violate any other previously been published by changing the systems Shane Carney copyright.'" Corrlmai, NSW Breach of copyright is now a criminal offence. command.

- 53248,X . 100,7 . 10 Title of idea/program 10 PRINT CORN (*47): POKE 53280,0. POKE 53281,01V 0 13 FOR X - 828 TO 936: READ Al POKE X,A. NEXT FOR 5 12288 TO 12350, POKE 5,255, NEXT 20 . PONE V 1,7 Signature Date 25 POKE 2040.192: POKE V 21,1: POKE V 39 7. POKE V,X. FOR 5 . 0 TO 1000,578(628): NEXT : GOTO 20 1%5 DATA 173.1,220,74,176,2.206,1,208,74,176.3.223.1.208.74,174,42,1r3 40 DATA 0,208,208,31.173,16,208,41,1,208,16,173,16,208,91,141.16,205 173 16,208,41 254,141,16 209,206 Name 45 DATA *69,80 141,0,208.96,234,234 208 50 DATA 0,208,36,234,234,74,176 32.238 Ii 208,240,)!0,1e9,80.2Ó5,0 55 DATA 208,20,173,16,208,41,1,240,13,17)!,16.208,41.254,I41.16,2Ó0.169 Address 60 DATA 0,141,0,206,94,234,234,(73,16,206,9,1,14),16,208,º6,234,234

Postcode

ETI December 1986 - 37 FEED FORWARD

Gatecrasher C= Robotron CHIP -8 This game uses VIC points. the 20 generated gates. But you This super Is a game In which two If you miss the expander and a have a competitor, the evil people top of the joystick. You are a can gang up against head but still get the robot dashing Enrico, who, because he has a computer young prince out to - although they you get 1 point, but the robot rescue a arthritis and only one leg, must stay within beautiful princess the main plan keeps coming for you. You by going goes via an easy path at the of the game. through a series of randomly can only shoot five times be- bottom. First off, the program dis- fore you run out of chances. To Darryl Beatty plays a title page. When it has get more you must return to Regents Park, NSW finished you can push a key to the hole. start and you 0 will see yourself Each 'PRINT' L GATECRRSNER"'A.1.IIIF A< 2100 GOTO time the hundreds 100THEN 0 10000 In 1500 POKE30876.01POKE30070. a shallow hole with 1 15:PRINT"._' a robot column in the score U.38870:5C.01714.-000000-:4.211.512 1501 tAPH1945 SCNCLR changes 2 up In the left 06T60.0,0.0,0,10.40.98.40.10.18.10,56. 1502 POKE30975.2) top hand corner. so does the robot, although It 84.140.16.56.40.88,130.254.40.40,198,0,0 1103 PRINT-yyOUR SCORE 10 :REM GATE 4445"SC It will start CRASHER 1507 PRINT -pp' making Its way doesn't get harder. 100 GRAPHICI 1510 IFSC(100TNENPRINT-YUCK THE PRINCESS down to you 110 COLOR 4.3.7.15 OPTES YOUI- and the only way Keys: (player 1) 8 215 FOR N.100 TO 900 left, A STEP50 1512 IFSC)1006NOSC<200TNENPRI to 720 F1NT(RNO(1 NT'T1NE FROG get out of the hole Is to 1 U900)'1 LODES YO..' right, up, 9 down; (player 2) 230 00Po40.34.0 TO N,F4200 1515 IFSC)200ANOSC(300THEARRINT-YDU press 231 SDUN00.255.0.0.5 SAC!(00 PRE the 'up' (1) control. Your D fire left, F AS PRINCESS SAVER' fire right, 6 fire up, 332 IF RJOY(0)4l THEN Y.Y-5 1SI0 233 1FSC)300ANOSC<500TNENPRINT-YOU PRE partner must try to shoot the E fire IF 6J03(0).2 THEN YY45: G000 ENOUGH TO down. 734 IF RJOY(0).8 THEN RESCUE A DON1000 THEN 1500 0680 7001 FF07 90EDP)00 WEE 44PA MCA 9149 PA44 300 'ex 7101 3E05 1676 0010 OBEE OM CE4R EA00 244 OR1Y1.8.4.708,2 0690 1682 1961FS01 F901 9410 FF00 FF15 0800 0088 0080 0088 ~I 0040 080 0 BB00 0008 671: P:ftA 1R99 AhW 245 SOUND 0.0.0.0.9 FF0g7 0060 4444 9444 4444 4444 0780 3080 0099 ANNA 1-60119 00'Y) 250 NEXT:FOR T.100T0 1798 76Feé TFB IEe94 07íC 0060 0000 0880 0000 0008 900STE1.100:OR142.T. 0e90 9000 8017 0129 9049 1E17 7E08 wee 0000 6u: 90 0 TO T.1000:NEXT 0600 0017 A61 0170 0000 0000 900 8008 WW1 Ot 9000 0axe 7800 10 17 90 1 tl 300 05 13003802e03 13128 C011 70131 0:80 B000 ear 0080 FORU.17028:RE10 J:POKE71444U.G.J:NEX 06E0 793 3740 1600 IBM 00{%f [COB T:RESTORE FFFF FFFF FFFF 00N98 Bade be.. 0009 Mk 0.0 8033 800d yg 9330 ~0 elm Pam 8080 09f0 FP6R 310 G.045 0464 0188 0800 UM BCFE 0080 0p:p044 0710 BB10 C078J6q 0080 8421 awe 500 0OT0215 9025 859 7804 8129 OBg BaS73B 0290 0001 0720 1729 8171' al BB00 0000 8160 3808 W 1000 Oi FT19 0100 ®0P BBBB 0818 SCNCLR 57gF804 0080 Fcic FFFF EFEE FFFE FBBa F0 0:E0 F60e 0eF9 0008 BBeB 1002 07q00 E ffFE EEFE FFFE Ii30PHIC2:REGION 2 Bi FE0gf6.QQF8B FTF3 S"ÍF 9FFF 0039 42D4 3010 0100 W 1005 0750 0000 90 0080 690 0000 90 0690 CIRC.LE2.512.512,200.50:0906442.312.31 0800 31190 1901 4833 18822EE 0877 66 71 1F12E 3001 IgB21gE 2 TO 712,312:P0I4T2.512.522 'PO1N12.512. 64 10 24 FA755 D 6FÉ FF® 10 ~F 902 0770 7FFE 2000 1790 0791 077C 101E 601 EP 0820 1795 Wee uni 7610 1á7É 70B'.3 182E 4720 1á2E 7701 BFFF 1000 SCNLLR 0790 epeA 0830 8010 (891 1BB9 3[21 1930 1810 E09E 136E 4524 00 4419 MEE P155 9155 0091 0M1 1007 0780 7401 E D455 0840 9101 1990 1876 060 90F 4010 0891 CIPClE2.512.512.200,50:C199LE2,512. 2455 852E 4501 OFfE 075, Da 7900 0950 0455 6882 852E 8702 6438 B40F 900 27,55 552.200.50 2E 4140C 00Fí IV`J5 845551 006 DOS 2700 1990 7301 1009 07paEC0 7SF D04FSE 3~ 1882 6300 7201 C1R1E2.050,400,100.200.60.120:CH1R 01370 3264 1932 1,290 7101 3109 1932 4.2.-I 0 P 0451 D453 2501 045., 6180 7001 LOVE YDU- 4PAINT2,512.480:PA1NT2 0080 060 NEB F355 270L 113BE 2780 nee 45248451 1060 2803 .512.590 07F00 0890 0855 4100 ABEA 4101 904 4102 908 4103 8455 081g P9:F 4104 4105 113 DD44 ACES ~134108 1-914 4107 741F E10 F0F0EE 'Wm PC18 0810080 0880 4108 4922 4109 0929 060 0945 009E 0B 8455 7401 G)B80 00:3 9488 060 e0C0 F655 ABW F065 0870 6001 301 184C 9578 1870 1E07 0309 9980 1810 128D 8178 6055 4001 0800 1952 274E 0877 1778 0030 1840 AR7749EE 1077 4771 908 F1395 0690 060 1071 1874 060 08E0 2241F855 08e5 0840 074E BBFF 0977 77FF 0677 1862 9480 90 WEE 3810 012130900 0850 1919 8:313140E FIFE MX 33113 0600 0445 4001 190 8)4E 0400 0677 490 eCOe 7E7E 7C3C 0860 7E30 1 FUE 1e7C Car chase 187E 7e01 O7e8077 274E 060 0677 "Ft. 740F BC 10 FFFF 1 10 pp16gg707'1 X24 2424 6ff0B .42 i424 This 0880 1762A7 1F'30 277C program places you In the F40B OF46177 FB00 8[2030 421.3 0.>J8C 0890 o49oC812281 604 z.,3? FF07 3000 EÁJd E BC40 7EB1 3Fffi IC32 leI[ 0731 08:0 1 4 60F D4$ 0951 fFFD driver's seat of the fastest car 0880 A 0b E11FF 07 8007 forward. This 0810 8040 1961 6121 1778 on the grid. You fly routine Is poked F 2V1 1~ ID1 past any iB4`4iB 7áá4 18 89F g4p 9f Into the REM statement in á0£á0 >952 4037 1942 BBF :BID 6300 cars on the line 810 49% 991 road, but watch 090e á'J05 I 1 so Qggg[[[j 896p0E make sure this line Is 09y10 77, /85yp out because every time you 60 07gB991 l790¡' 4 ISC U88{ 14 1990 47.04 OB91 71081 typed In as it appears here. 0930 (109g12 pass 50 cars you move g óF01 I91eID up the 0540 17877g80 A010 The C3BB 78FF 4887 1395C3 routine has many possible 0 4001 261 33g015 728 OWF 06'{' screen one line. The 0y9B6700p 9Cdi 17 1Ippl game uses 18]6 81F.E10 FF00 can be used at and may be placed different skill 0990 Fla EDW.. Fi8c7c3Rc. virtually cow°P 0 0066 00é EFGiC FFEE anywhere In memory. FeOA`6 levels, eg, from two to 0900 07520 0000 8880 008? 0009 800 N6e seven When the lanes, varying start heights program Is run you will be asked how and increasing amounts of many lanes traffic. you wish to start with, seven 00260 being the easiest. Then enter X.164410-1/1.íP-11:XX.61440:1FPEEKIX).1990RPEEK(X1.32TMEN270ELSE The program revolves 00270 CURSP,O;PRINT'ED':G.P 380 your starting height; this value 00280 Y.PEEX(2621 around a short machine code 00290 should range six IFY440RY.46TMEN300ELSE360 routine which moves the between and 00300 IFY<)46TMEN330 14, 14 being the easiest. 00310 1FP91NT ILl147TNEN200 whole screen down one line Con- 00320 5.50716010360 at a time giving trol keys are < left and > 00330 IFY/644TMEN230 the appear- right. 00340 IFP.I4THEN200 ance of your car travelling 00350 P.P-7:0070360 Graham Heathcote 00360 POKE262,0:6.164810-211'(P-11:%.X.61440 00370 308(60IX).2510RPEEK 1X1. 00380 253T1.EN3B0ELSE200 Ingleburn, NSW CURSO,0:PRINT'OO': CURSP, 0: 890: 00390 PLAY42,9 PPINT'NI'1NORMAL 00400 PRINT'SCORE''N.F 00001 0E11173456285,012 00410 END 00099 REM ****f*4H MACHINE CODE LOADER 4*44*4*8 00420 NORMAL:PLAY23,3112,5 00100 F0RA.2309702320: READB:POKEA, 00430 CLS 00110 9,4(51* DATA 33,192,203,17,0,244,1,193,3,237,184,201 00440 PRINT'Yeu Eau* Canplet** 00120 0010450 another triage, 00 now it 00450 6.8.110.12: IFD.)INT(L11-1TNENEND 9ta harder' 00130 REM8*114488 MAIN 00460 PROGRAMME *4*4*484*44 PR1NT'PRESS ANY KEY 'I 00140 PRINT' 400 MANY 00470 9.USR132774) LANES'I:INPUTLI . 00150 P.14:H.B:F-0,DI 00480 OOT0190 00160 PRINT' START HEIGHT 'I:INPUTO 00490 DATA 00170 AIS FOOOOGO': 810''9000980' 00500 DATA 240,136,64,40,56,40,32,(60,160,160,90,56,40,192,0,0 00100 FORI1.1T091-11 00910 24,24,24,24.24.24,24,24,24,24.24,24,24,24,0,0 Al*'AI..B1*:NEXTII:A10.A1*.'F' DATA 15,17.2,20,78,20,4,5,5,5,20,79,20,3,0,0 00190 CLS:PCO 00520 DATA 00700 POKE262,01CURSIO:PRINTA10 08530 DATA 240,136,192,232,249,232,224,96,32,32,232,248,232,192,128,0 00210 00540 15,17,3,23,91,23.7.6,4,4,23,31.23,3,1,0 IF2.0:FORE1TO0;C'INTlRND4L1141:CURSIC*7147,1:PRIN7'CA':NEXTB:2.3:F.F.D DATA 00220 2I-1 00550 DATA 102,102,102,182,102,102,102,102,102,182,102,102,102,102.102.107 00230 IFF)50:NORMAL: 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,8,0,0,0,0,0,0 CUR51,2:PRINT" '920 CARS '' 00560 DATA 0.20,9.011F0(.D04114EN420 ':PLAY23,23123,23123:PC0:0.0-1:N.H. 00570 DATA 21,149,85,42.149,74,181,75,255,74,146,36,201,50,196,24 00240 CURSB,O:PRINT'OO' 00580 168,169,170,84,169,92.173,210,255,82,73,36,147,76,35,152 00250 FOR...14526T064621 SUSR123091 00590 REAOB: POKER, B:NEXTA 00600 OOT0130

38 - ETI December 1986 pPoDsca 2022 Ion© IsHigc.noQ LO 0 R SELECTOR S. K. Hui

Shake, rattle and rolling in dough! This lotto number selector uses the wonders of modern science to crack the jackpot.

DOES FILLING in the lotto form give you is closed. It's possible to change the state of both a headache? In front of you is a maze of switches in a quite random fashion by blank squares waiting to be filled in. Do shaking the unit up and down. Provided the they swim before your eyes, while you go clock period is much shorter than the period cross-eyed and around the twist? If this is the switches changing state, you your problem, relax, relief is in sight with between will have a fully random result in the sense the lotto selector, the all -singing, all - that every number will have an equal, and dancing, black box that will lead you to totally unpredictable, chance of being selec- fortune, if not fame. ted as soon as you stop shaking. The clock The actual number picked by the circuit is disabled and the winning number is depends on how fast and long you shake the displayed on a pair of seven segment LEDs. unit. So when you win next time, you will Unfortunately, the other mercury switch be able to accept some of the credit. Fortune controlling the power to the circuit can't be favours the bold! Good luck next Monday!! used as a normal on/off switch. We can't eti have power applied to the circuit when the Design approach switch is closed .and removed when the My first reaction to this project was to use switch is open. For a start, power will be a counter to generate the number. It was a applied in a series of quick pulses; not very -to -build, cheap, nothing -could -go - simple satisfactory from the point of ensuring long wrong approach. But it's not random, since life for the components. Secondly, the numbers follow one another sequen- the circuit itself will probably behave in unpre- tially. dictable ways; and thirdly, it would mean To generate a pure random number a that the user would have to ensure that the pseudo -random number generator seemed switch was on when he or she held the to be a much better bet. A classic pseudo- display still in order to read the number. random number generator consists of a ETl-283 The answer is to use a charge pumping multi -stage shift register with an exclusive LOTTO circuit. This is an ingenious little idea that NOR gate feeding back to the input of the allows you to 'pump' up the voltage applied shift register. SHAKER to the circuit until it reaches a level at which A first glance at the design on paper it will start operating. The voltage will stay appeared to show that this approach would at that level until you stop 'pumping', and not lead to a greater chip count than the it still faces then slowly decay. So in operation, you will counter approach. But, in fact, it would. advantage of simple detection, it's not random. This is find that when you start shaking it, the Since I am not a great gambler myself, the problem that fact that the circuit LEDs will slowly appear in their 88 have an excuse for not seeing that earlier. complicated by the battery saver, configuration. As you continue to shake However, lotto numbers only go from needs to have an automatic off, and it needs to they will get brighter until they reach one to 40. So there are two problems. ie, it will turn itself for some con- normal operating voltage. As soon as you the shift registers to one instead of display the frozen number Clearing stop shaking the 88 will change into a zero is one. The other is detecting the siderable time. unsolved until number between 01 and 40, then slowly number 40. In a random shift register, more These problems remained a flashed through fade away to nothing. chips will be required to carry out the the idea of throwing die is surprisingly The design means no switches. It also detection than in a counter. Space, weight, my head. The solution reed switches are means that the battery remains connected. and price are very important considerations simple. Two mercury power supply to the However, we have been able to ensure that in any project so these factors put an end to used, one to control the to the clock. the current drain in this off-condition is the pseudo -random number generator idea. circuit and the other control oscillator, only 10µA, so the battery should last for Back to scratch one and the counter idea. The clock is formed by a simple the mercury switch almost its entire shelf life. Although the counter circuit offers the which is disabled when ETI December 1986 - 39 prfoAscn3

Construction As usual, first check your pc board carefully for bridged or broken tracks. Repair any before you proceed. The next step is to 111 obtain a box with dimensions 130(1) x 43(h) x 68(w) mm. This should be readily available in the electronics shops. Fit the bare 7 board onto the floor of the box and mark the 3 position of the four mounting holes. 556 Y Remove the board and drill them out. 1 Countersink them on the outside of the box to get a net YV ó appearance. To fix the board use C3 SATr 145 º standard countersunk 6BA, y. -inch screws. Put the screws through their holes and fix them with nuts. Land the pc board back onto the box to ensure the screws go 01 through the mounting hole of the pc board 41144, comfortably. Next, cut a rectangular window on the surface of the box for number display purposes. Cutting dimensions and locations

y",." Ic2s 12 I 44""--1.2-6""' 11 13 Is la 10 124., 15 y t 15 10 -a- 44 ] 10 10 a3-7 110~1 14 IC3 . 010 Li y13-. K2a

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C5 m.1= ETI-283 and Lotto Shaker

Figure 1. Cutting diagram for front panel window.

are given in Figure 1. First scratch the relax. Now we can get on with the circuit soldering each pin to rectangular hole to be cut with a sharp nail board. allow time for it to To cut the price I didn't specify a cool down. Overheating or pin. Use a small drill bit (12 mm plated can result iii -through board, which means that permanent damage. Be careful with diameter typically) to drill holes around the you will have the to use wires to achieve the polarity of the chips and diodes. interior edge of the rectangular window. Cut same result. The good news is that there are When you come to transistor, Ql, try to out the middle piece with scissors or a only 12 of them. Solder the diodes and handle it without touching the scalpel. The edge is then with a pins. Static smoothed resistors onto the board but don't insert the charge from your needle file. To cover the rectangular hole fingers could easily capacitors for the time being. Many of the damage a high input with a red filter for easier reading of the resistors and impedance MOSFET diodes have their pins acting transistor such as a VN46AF. No heatsink is LED digits, a small piece of red transparent as feedthrough wires, so you perspex must solder the required. The VN46AF should be laid flat should be cut out to a size just top and bottom onto the board. slightly bigger on the board as shown in the picture. than the window. It should Next come the ICs. Again, many of the then be glued onto the floor Finally, solder the two 7 -segment LEDs. of the box with pins need to be soldered on both sides of the No IC Superglue to cover the window. sockets are needed. Note that the board. To avoid the trouble of remembering LEDs are soldered If you feel this is just a little on the solder side of the too much which need to be soldered, I suggest you do board Only. mechanical work for an electronics project, all of them. Take a short break between Due to the height of the capacitors, they

40 - ETI December 1986 ETI-283 HOW IT WORKS That's not the whole story however. COUNTER AND DISPLAY CIRCUITS - Remember the circuit has to turn off The counter is made up of two 4-bit The circuit is built a counter with around itself when left unattended. So a dis- decade counters. Normally, the clock a power supply. The special feature of charge circuit for C2 is Included, which the power supply is it is pulse only triggers 1C3, so that will count that controlled consists of R2 and 03. The time from the up while IC4 the same. The carry- by a charge pump circuit consisting of stays last pulse to the circuit shutting down is out pin on 1C3 (pin 7) will active R1, R2, C1, C2, D1, D2 and 03. The rest of become directly proportional to the time con- IC3 reaches the ninth count. It the circuit is basically an oscillator whenever stant of the discharge circuit. Therefore, is connected to the clock on IC4, so the driving a counter with a feedback circuit it has to be chosen carefully to ensure result is that IC4 only increments on the formed by IC2 and IC7 to detect the the time constant is not too long or too number 41. Output of the counter drives tenth clock pulse. short. Too long means the delay time So say IC4 is at zero and IC3 is at nine. a BCD to 7 -segment decoder for display- before shut -down is long, hence wasting ing the output of the counter. The next clock pulse will change IC3 power. On the other hand if it is too short, back to zero (because it's a decade PUMP CHARGE CIRCUIT the charge pumped into C2 will leak counter) and increment IC4 to 1. The Assume initially, there is no charge in (discharge) away too quickly. In this carry -out pin of IC3 resets as soon as its capacitors Cl and C2. Transistor 01 is case, the circuit will never turn on, since output count has gone back to zero and off. When you start shaking the unit, it will never reach the turn on voltage. stays this way until it reaches nine mercury switch MSW1 opens and The discharge time constant is deter- again. closes. Use the formula for the capaci- mined by the product of C2 and R2, IC3 and IC4 have a total of eight bits tor which works out to be around 2.2 output, and so It's possible to go up to Cdr = 1 seconds with the values chosen. On the 256 before repeating. Lotto numbers, dt other hand, the time constant for the however, only go up to 40, so it's Since current cannot flow instantly, charge pumping circuit is much shorter, necessary to have some kind of detec- dv/dt must be zero initially. This means multiplying R1 and Cl gives 1.2 seconds tion circuit to reset the counters to zero the rate of change of voltage, as op- only. when the count gets up to 40. The posed to current, across the capacitor Another factor to consider is that R1 detection circuit consists of IC2, IC7 and plates is initially zero. Thus, the first determines the standby current of the R7, 134, and CS. Referring to the sche- closure of the contacts induces a volt- unit. The larger the value, the smaller matic diagram, output of ICU will go age of 9 V on both plates of the capaci- the standby current. Since the standby high as soon as the counter gives an tor. The charge induced on one side of current is always applied to the battery it output of 41. This high charges up CS Cl is absorbed by C2. The charge on the is Important this be as small as possible. through D7 and triggers IC7b. The output other side is discharged through 111 as When it comes to choosing a suitable of IC7b immediately goes high and soon as the contact opens (due to value for Cl, we need to consider two resets the counters to 01. Since the shaking). Using the same equation as problems; firstly, Cl should discharge output of the counter is no longer at 41, above, it's not hard to see that when the completely every time the switch opens. the detector circuit is no longer acti- contact opens, a negative voltage of 9 V If it doesn't then the charge applied to vated and IC7a output immediately goes Is induced onto the other plate of the C2 will be reduced, and the box will need w. capacitor. This negative voltage causes to be shaken more vigorously as a result. Now, D4 is reverse biased and be- D1 to conduct and clamps the negative This implies a small value for Cl. The comes open -circuited. The charge voltage to zero. Diode D2 prevents the value of Cl, however, is constrained by stored in CS can only discharge through charge stored in C2 from flowing back to the fact that the amount of charge R7, and then only slowly. So IC7b is earth through D1. passed to C2 depends solely on the size maintained active for a short period, As a result of shaking, MSWI opens of Cl. even after IC7 is deactivated. This en- and closes its contacts, and a train of But the discharge rate is set in part by sures a clean, definite reset to the positive 9 V pulses appears on the node R/ as well, and the bigger it is, the longer counter. This short delay period has a where Cl, D1 and D2 meet. These pulses the period. Unfortunately, the value of time constant equal to the product of CS pump charge into C2 according to the R1 is fixed by the standby current and R7. formula: requirement, and should be as large as The output of the counter drives IC4 C=V = Q possibi . and IC5 for display purposes. Calculat- so the voltage across C2 begins to rise. So, the net result is that we want both ing the value of the limiting resistors is As the switch opens and closes, the Cl and R1 to be both big and small at the fairly simple. Since an operating seg- voltage keeps rising until it's higher than same time. Clearly, in a situation like ment needs a voltage around 1.8 V and a the turn -on voltage of Q1 (which is this, the final result is a compromise current of about 10 mA, and we are using around 2 V max). Transistor Q1 con- between all the competing desires, and a 9 V battery for supply, Ohm's law gives: ducts, acting like a switch. It connects Is best determined empirically. After a 19-1.8)- 720 ohms the circuit ground to the true ground, lot of fiddling around, I settled on 120 nF 10x10-0 thus energizing the circuit. as a suitable value. Therefore, 680 ohms was chosen.

Figure 2. Mounting mercury switches.

also have to be mounted on the soldering the mercury switch. The two mercury side of the board. This keeps all the low w switches are mounted on the side walls of profile components on one side of the the box as shown in Figure 2. Glue or board, enabling the LEDs to be placed at a masking tape could be used to fix them but close distance to the red filter. Again, the note that the switch must be closed when capacitors are all laid flat with their pins the box is in an upright position in order to soldered on both sides if necessary. Now the disable the clock. only thing left is a few hookup wires which Before committing yourself to gluing the connect the board to the mercury switches mercury switches, you must make sure the and the 9 V battery. circuit works. Due to the relatively large The battery is fixed onto the lid of the box size of the switches and limited space in the with double -sided spongy tape (see the box, once the switches are glued onto the picture). A battery clip is soldered onto the side wall of the box, they will be obstacles to board. pieces wire 9 - Cut four of hookup each removing the board. Therefore, it is import- about 150 mm in length. They have one ant to mount the board before you glue the end soldered to the board and the other to switches.

ETI December 1986 - 41 pQoDsciR 202

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4 r

rffiellelefelt

The two mercury switches are mounted on the walls of the box with Superglue. The 9V battery is fixed onto the lid of the box with double -sided spongy tape.

0 imiTO O O O O 00 O O O O O 0 O O O O O O O O O 00000000000000 O o 0itO O O 00 000

0 0 0 000000 00000 IQ 00 00 0 0 0 0000000

es ' wow 0 o 0 0000 00'0 0'0 I 00 0000 : % 000000 0000 o o 0000 O ó o 0_4 00 Components on the front side of the board should be kept at low profile. No sockets are needed for the two 7 -segment LEDs. 0 0O o2.1.0 42 - ETI December 1986 MSW1 MSW2 ETI-283 -- PARTS LIST

Resistors all V.W, 1%. unless noted R1, 2 10M R3 1k 41 R4 2k7 R5 5k6 R6 2k2 R7 8k2 R8-21 680R

Capacitors Cl 120n greencap C2 Oµ 22 tantalum C3 1n5 greencap C4 15n greencap C5 6n8 greencap C6 2211 electro

Semiconductors D1,2,3,4 1N914 LED1, 2 0.3 inch tall common cathode 7 -segment display IC1 555 timer IC2 4009B IC3, 6 4510B IC4, 5 4511B R 1C7 4002B 01 VN46AF w- ' 4 Miscellaneous Two mercury switches (MSW1, MSW2); hookup CM.C" wire; 130 x 43 x 68 mm plastic box; 9 V battery ` 1 clip; double -sided pc board; 4 x 6BA, V. -inch r 01 jia_ 1~ ETI-283 countersunk mounting screws with 12 nuts; as small piece of red perspex (26 mm x 36 mm) 311. filter. 283- LOTTO - t Price estimate: $19 0 9V SHAKER (not including the battery) BATT ALL CAPS SOLDERED TO UNDER SIDE OF BOARD

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lc f J 4.T1H.SI,}1

" a, i _ 'aria Q .- .. ''p©, . F

The high profile components like capacitors should be mounted on the rear side of the board. Watch out as some of their leads are to be soldered on both sides of the board.

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VO1.Y

REGULATOR i This month, the final part of our articles on a heavy duty switcher. It contains all you need to build the brute.

Ian Thomas Part 2

THE CONSTRUCTION OF the power rather than pulling 10 kilos of iron down on the fuse be in the active lead. From the other supply involves a certain amount of brute your head (clearly a preferable option!). pin of the fuseholder another much longer force and ignorance combined with some The case I used is a Horwood instrument piece of brown insulated wire may be moderately fancy electronics. Because the case, just the right size to accept the mains connected and run off towards the front power supply is capable of quite high power transformer, measuring approximately 255 panel. The body of the fuseholder should be outputs the mechanical construction re- X 205 X 100 mm. Both the top and bottom well insulated after connecting the two volves around getting rid of waste power or, covers are just held on with sticky tape wires. I used a good sized piece of heat- much better, contriving that waste power when you get it but self tapping screws are shrink tubing I had slipped over the wires not be generated. included (although not enough!!!). Remove before soldering them to the fuseholder The mains input transformer is a both covers and you are ready to get serious. terminals. Ferguson type PF4244, a damn great lump Cut holes in the rear of the case to fit the A second lead, this time insulated blue, of iron and copper about the size of a brick connector complete with screw holes, and should be connected to the IEC connector (well - perhaps a little smaller!), and directly under it cut another to take the pin labelled N and run off to the front panel. probably the greatest heat source in the fuseholder. On the top left hand side of the I neatly clamped down both leads to the whole case. This is not immediately appar- front panel drill a 1/4" hole to take the mains side of the case in several places. As a matter ent when the thing's turned on as it has a switch and under it cut another to accept the of both convenience and neatness I always thermal time constant of a couple of hours power on LED. try to keep all wiring nicely in place. (literally!), but it does get quite warm even I most vigorously recommend using a Nothing looks sloppier than a piece of when running under no load. Unfortunately double -pole mains switch as I have abso- electronic equipment that looks like an this heat source is stuck inside the case lutely no faith whatever in the electricians explosion in a spaghetti factory. To com- where there is no ventilation. switching the active in the power point. If plete the wiring of the IEC connector a piece The next great heat source is the diode power comes into an instrument and then of yellow/green earth wire should be bridge connected to the transformer output. is switched on both mains lines you can soldered to the centre pin labelled E and This need not be stuck inside the case and, turn it off and work on it in reasonable connected directly to the instrument case. in fact, was deliberately heatsunk to the confidence that there is no possibility of To abide by the letter of the law you cannot outside air, but more of this later. The rest meeting your ancestors. Now back to the use a screw that is used to hold the case of the regulator has only a moderate wiring. I found it convenient to strip back together here; it should be a separate screw amount of heat to dissipate and so it is all the outer insulation sheath from a few feet for the job. mounted on the regulator board inside the of ordinary 7.5 amp flex for the mains The free ends of both the brown and blue case. wiring wire. wires should be connected to the centre When assembling the power supply the After the IEC connector and fuseholder terminals of the front panel mains switch. first thing to attend to is the mains input, are screwed in place, strip and solder a piece Extensions of the brown and blue wires fuse and switch. This is the most important of brown lead to the pin marked A on the should be connected to two outer terminals part of the power supply so far as care is IEC connector. The one I purchased (from on the same side on the mains switch. Make concerned, as the rest of the system can do Geoff Wood Electronics, Sydney) had con- sure that there is plenty of free space spectacular things if you make a mistake but nector pins that were inserted after solder- between all terminals on the switch (240 the mains side can kill you. For safety ing which made life a lot easier. The wire volts!) and then cover it with heat -shrink reasons I chose to bring the mains into the could be soldered to the pin, taped safely tubing. Finally terminate the two wires in a case through an IEC mains connector. This with insulating tape and then inserted in the terminal block near the mains switch in means in practice that when you inadver- plastic shell. This lead should then be such a way that you can get to the screws tently trip over the mains cord you pull the stripped back and soldered to one terminal when the transformer is in place. The plug out of the back of the power supply of the fuseholder as it is most desirable that terminal block will serve to connect the 46 - ETI December 1986 ~fiecr

Solder the terminal lugs of the other two studs whose anode (blunt end) is connected to the case and connect a piece of heavy (once again blue is nice here) 150 mm long to make the negative output. As a matter of interest here it's always a . ? good idea to try to observe the colour l.15..3 o ,, f . .. conventions as much as possible. This is 100W POWER bC # AN15 because quite often someone else may go UPPLY poking around inside your machine and it gives them a hint as to what is going on. i This goes doubly for any mains wiring and, I think, should be done by law. The transformer connections to the bridge are made by connecting a piece of heavy wire from one end diode around the next diode and connecting it to the third. This lead may be continued on as it connects to one lead of the transformer secondary. Repeat the process starting from the other end to make the other connection for the transformer. Both leads that go to the transformer should be at least 150 mm long. Any colour is fine here as the wiring is symmetric. transformer mains side. This pretty much The diodes should be evenly spaced along finishes the area where exceptional caution the 1.5" side of the bracket near the outer is needed. edge (so you can get to the screws that hold With all the mains wiring out of the way the bracket on). Drill four holes to accept it is time to start fitting all the bits and the studs large enough to allow the insulat- pieces into the case. Place the lower cover ing bushings to be inserted and deburr them where it would normally go on the case and thoroughly. rest the transformer in position on the left Each diode must be individually insu- hand end of the case. Make sure it clears the lated from the aluminium bracket by the wiring around the rear panel but leave as mica washers and plastic spacers that much space as possible towards the front. normally come with the diodes. The Mark where the transformer sits, remove adjacent photograph shows just how the the bottom panel from the case and screw diodes should be mounted with the electri- down the transformer. Leave all leads loose cal mounting tag on the side away from the at this stage. main diode body. At this point it is The next major mechanical step is the appropriate to draw your attention to the main diode bridge. I chose to keep all fact that high current diodes look like great electronic components inside the case big bolts but they are not. The bodies of the i rather than simply mounting the diodes diodes are made out of copper which is as directly on the heatsink. This makes things weak as yesterday's cornflakes. If you start a bit more complicated but allows the whole heaving on the thread like it must carry the diode bridge to be made as a separate harbour bridge you absolutely will strip the subassembly. I mounted the four diodes thread and ruin the diode. I found the safest that make up the rectifier bridge on a piece way to judge when it was tight enough was of L-shaped aluminium extrusion, 1" x to watch when the spring washer provided 1.5",' and just shorter than the case is high. with the diode was compressed flat. The diodes are clamped to the 1.5" side and Mount the four diodes on the bracket the I" side is screwed to the rear panel. with two of the same polarity at either end. Directly opposite the bracket on the rear The studs of the diodes whose case is the } panel is screwed a finned heatsink which cathode (pointy end) become the positive Diode wiring on protrudes into the outside air (see photo). terminal of the bridge. When actually the inside of the back panel. L-shaped extrusions are readily available at mounting the diodes be sure again that hardware stores. 'there are no burrs around the edge of the The diode bridge can now be attached to If you can get them it makes life a lot holes and use heatsink grease on all the case. It mounts vertically in the centre of neater and tidier to get two of the diodes mounting surfaces. Solder the two terminal the inside of the rear panel with a heatsink with their polarity reversed - that is two lugs together and connect a 150 mm length mounted on the outside (see photo). The have their anodes connected to the case and of heavy wire (red insulated wire is nice if easiest way to do this is first to drill three two have their cathodes connected to the you have it). When wiring up the bridge and mounting holes in the heatsink. The case. This most 'assuredly makes wiring in fact the whole power supply main current heatsink can then be used as a drilling easier. paths you will have to use extra heavy duty template for the holes in the rear panel and Locate just where you want the diodes to wire. I used 7 x 0.67 mm stranded cable for bridge. 4BA screws are readily available and sit on the bracket by using the mica washers. all connections which seemed to do fine. for these you'll need a 9/64" drill. It is also ETI December 1986 - 47 PccojeC 533

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Notice the diode bridge and its associated heatsink at the top. the right size for 3.5 mm screws for those lucky enough to get them. leads from the bridge to the block should be go. It should just clear the left hand side of Drill three or four evenly spaced holes kept as short as possible (remember I the case and just miss all the rear panel down the centre of the heatsink mounting milliohm equals 0.4 watts!!). wiring. Give yourself as much room as area and deburr them. Next hold the The meters I chose to use were cheapie 50 possible at the front as there's a bit of wiring heatsink firmly up against the rear panel microamp ones. The main problem with to be done there. The leads should come out where you want it to go (exactly in the these was that the front panel scales were of the transformer to the sides rather than to centre) and drill one end hole through the wrong. This was rectified by pulling the the front and back. Mark a few holes on the panel. Deburr the hole in the panel then meters apart and removing the scales. I case bottom from the transformer and then position the diode bridge and mark where painted out the scale numbers and the word remove it. Next, using the printed circuit the hole should be. Remove the bridge and microamps with office whiteout. After it board you've made or bought or whatever, drill a hole where you've marked it. had thoroughly dried I filled in the correct mark out the mounting holes in all four Next screw the whole shibang together numbers and units with a $2.50 Letrasct corners. using one screw in the hole you've drilled; bought from the local newsagent. The result A possible problem may arise here. In the locate everything just right and run the drill was just a little rough looking but definitely prototype I used Philips' printed circuit through all the other holes but don't bash it got the message across. mounting capacitors (see Parts List). These through the diodes - they break! Pull The rest of the bits and pieces can now be are great devices but seem difficult to everything apart and deburr all the holes. mounted on the case. Mount the meters, procure from component suppliers. All this Finally smear heatsink grease on all mating control pots, output terminals and power means you may have trouble getting the surfaces and screw down the heatsink and on LED on the front panel and the case is neatsy pcb mounted capacitors I used. In diode bridge to the rear panel. The red and just about ready to receive all the business this case you'll probably have a damn great blue bridge output leads can be terminated parts. lump of a capacitor to mount. The golden in a 20 amp terminal block mounted on the The bottom of the case should first be rule is that the capacitor must be about rear panel to tidy things up. Make sure the' drilled to take everything. Fit it to the case 40,000 or 50,000 microfarads and 25 volt - terminal block is right at the top of the case and then (flexing your mighty muscles) rated. Mounting it on the board isn't so you can get a screwdriver in to use it! The place the transformer where you want it to necessary, just nice and easy. 48 - ETI December 1986 ETI-1533- HOW IT WORKS e íIOIcheC The power supply is a simple switching down - High power MOSFETs cannot tolerate ex- converter. It uses a conventional transformer treme overcurrents for very long. This can TR1 to give isolation from mains and step cause a problem as during power up the down the 240 volts ac to 16 volts ac. The inductor current (and hence the FET current) transformer output voltage is then rectified by can rise to rather high values. To avoid lion whatever), otherwise you may connect a high current diode bridge D1-04. The power possible damage to the FET, the current them in parallel -opposed. There are two resistor is then filtered by the two eletrolytic capacitors flowing through it is sensed by the R8 windings so find one end of each with a of and comparator IC3. When the current rises Cl and C2 to give an unregulated dc output continuity checker. If there's no continuity 22 volts dc. too much the comparator output goes hard they're separate windings. Clip the In order to regulate this voltage down to tiie negative from Its normal positive state and then desired output voltage without exce.zirve removes the drive from the FET gate. Positive ends together and turn the beast on. losses, a power MOSFET, 01, is used as a feedback is provided around the comparator Measure the ac voltage between the uncon- switch which is either on with a very low by resistor R19 to hold the FET off until the nected ends. if it's 36 volts or so the is complete. At the end of the resistance or off and is switched between switching cycle windings are parallel -opposed and you these two states at about 100 kHz. When 01 ís cycle IC1, the control IC, delivers a pulse out must reverse one winding. there's almost on current is allowed to flow from the negative of pin 3 to reset the comparator. If unregulated rail through 01 and 11 into the The control IC, an LM2524, refers all no volts then the connection's correct. output filter capacitors, C3 and C4. The current voltages to its negative rail which creates Trim the transformer windings off with rises linearly with time and is proportional to problems as the power supply output is from about 50 mm free and bare back the ends for If the process the unregulated positive input to an artificially the voltage across the inductor. 15 mm or so. You'll have to scrape off the were allowed to continue indefinitely eventu- generated voltage out below the positive rail. as is a special high temperature ally the output capacitors would charge up to IC4 solves this problem by monitoring the enamel it the unregulated mains voltage, but it is not output voltage of the whole power supply and type that can't be taken off with a soldering After a few microseconds the control generating a dc control voltage referred to the iron. Twist the ends you want to parallel (I circuitry turns 01 off again. A certain amount negative rail of between 0 and 5 volts dc for a checked them again to be sure) and solder rep- 0 volt supply output. The voltage of current Is flowing through L1 which to 16 power about 10 mm. Insert the twisted ends into resents energy that must be recovered. The control pot RV1 has the control IC's reference 10 and connect up the free drain voltage of 01 rises extremely rapidly Imposed across it and adjusting the pot a amp connector when 01 turns off and forces the high power generates a voltage of between 0 and the ends of the leads from the diode bridge to diode 05 to turn on. The current that was reference 5 volts. the other end. It was my original intention flowing through the FET and inductor now These two voltages are summed together by to stick the connector down somewhere but flows through the diode and inductor. Because resistors R1 and R2 and applied to one input of I found that the leads were so stiff it was voltage across the inductor is now of the the error amplifier on the control IC. The the totally unnecessary and the connector could opposite polarity, the current decreases with control Integrated circuit amplifier gener- where Now I know time. The control circuitry will continue to turn ates a dc control voltage which appears on just be left convenient. 01 on and off In such a way as to preserve the pin 9 from this control amplifier on the IC why power leads like this are called busbars desired output voltage and current whose Inputs are pins 1 and 2. The refer- - they're bars you can hang a bus off? You For very low output voltages the transistor ence +5 volts from the control IC is applied now have unfiltered 24 volts dc at 15 amps amplifier will only be on for a very short time and most to the other Input of the error rated. of the output current will flow through the through two resistors R3 and R4 (this is the force diode. For high output powers the transistor necessary as the common mode Input on For now this completes brute will be on for a much longer part of the overall the error amp Is very restricted). The whole and ignorance side of things. The next part duty cycle and will draw more power from the control loop always adjusts the output volt- is to assemble the printed circuit board and unregulated negative rail. Thus the down - age so the voltage on pin 1 is equal to the control circuitry. converter draws just as much power from the voltage on pin 2 and, hence, the output volt- unregulated supply as is needed and none is age is controlled by the voltage control pot. wasted. A second control loop Is necessary to pcb and control circuitry The gate of the power MOSFET 01 'looks control the power supply output current Six The only problem here is that old one of like' a very large capacitor and in order to small pieces of copper wire are in series with high currents. For your information pcb switch it quickly very high current must be the positive output of the power supply and laminate comes with varying grades or form a current sense resistor. IC2 is a low supplied. However, this Current must only be thicknesses of copper foil. My prototype supplied during the actual switching time and offset op -amp which in combination with 04 a 2 oz copper. when the transistor is either on or off no power and the sense resistor form a constant current used material with heavier If is needed. Thus the two TO92 transistors, 02 generator whose output is proportional to the you can get some so much the better. If you and 03, are sufficient to provide the necessary power supply output current. Resistors R14, can't then things will get just the teeusiest drive current. R13 and diode ZD1 ensure that R21 and C11 form a phase lead network to bit hotter in the case when the power very frequency the maximum gate voltage for the FET Is never compensate for the poor supply's running full bore. exceeded. response of the current limit input on the the main control IC. if you can't get the pcb-mounting filter Under normal operating conditions with control IC, IC1, generates a pulse width Pins 4 and 5 of the control IC are the current capacitors then the end of the board all modulated control signal out of pins 11 and 14. limit inputs. When pin 4 is taken 0.2 volts the copper can be deleted. if you can then These are, in effect, two emitter follower positive with respect to pin 4 (ground) the fine and make the board exactly as shown. Thus it a variable output transistors that can be used to drive a regulator starts to shut down. There are several components on the main paralleled up as here to resistor is placed in series with the collector of balanced output or board that have to be made. The first and drive a single ended converter. The collectors 04 and the output of the power supply loaded of these two transistors are normally con- then only enough current can flow to produce most important is the main inductor. The nected to the positive rail. However, for control a 0.2 volt from across the variable resistor core for this is a TDK type PQ 35-35 purposes they may be used to remove gate before the power supply current limits. This inverter core. The coil has to carry all the a control loop which is only able drive if desired as is done in this circuit R10 forms second output current so a lot of copper is needed. to act when the power supply output is and C8 set the frequency of oscillation of the Most of the current is dc but there is still a whole system independent of other effects. sufficiently loaded. considerable component of ac so I chose to make up my own stranded cable. If you do have a different sort ofcapacitor as necessary. I used seven strands of 0.8 mm enamelled then your board will be smaller and both The transformer has two secondary wind- wire about 1.6 or 1.7 m long and twisted should fit in OK. Locate everything on the ings that may be used in parallel (as now) or them together into a cable. The actual case bottom and drill all the necessary ín series. The parallel connection allows length needed is only about 1.4 m but you'll holes. The transformer can then be perma- much higher current at the cost of an extra have ragged ends that need to be trimmed. nently screwed to the case bottom and the diode drop in the rectified dc out. Before Twisting the wire together really. takes case bottom screwed onto the case. Wire the paralleling the windings it's a good idea to several people as the wire displays an transformer 240 volt input into the mains find out which .wire is which (my trans- extraordinary perversity to tangle up. The connector near the switch, trimming leads former came with absolutely no informa - method I used was to firmly twist the start ETI December 1986 - 49 ,. Is,; t ! , ti\

Front panel wiring. of all seven strands together and stick them turns. You should fit in 16 to 18 altogether. and Schottky barrier diode. I would much in the chuck of an 'eggbeater' drill. I then Terminate the end down the other side in have preferred to use heatsinks that were threaded the free ends of the wire through the same manner as the beginning and the available from hobbyist suppliers but seven holes in a piece of matrix board in as coil winding is complete. couldn't find one big enough. Also the data near to a hexagon as possible with the The ferrite core would saturate if it were provided by the stores weren't exactly seventh wire in the centre. The.free ends of simply assembled around the winding. This specific ("great for those bigger jobs" !!??? the wire must be kept taut as otherwise they means that (a) it would get very hot and (b) - most detailed! Really all that's needed twist around each other. When the drill wouldn't work anyway so it must be for a heatsink is one number - the terminal chuck is rotated the wires are twisted avoided. This is done by spacing the two resistance in degrees C per watt. Surely that together to form a cable. If the matrix board core halves apart with some sort of wouldn't waste too much printing ink!!). is back moved so the distance between the insulating material. Anything will do; I used a piece of 1.6 mm aluminium cut- twisting wires and the board is kept plastic draughting film is good; good stiff out to the drawing in Figure 3. After cutting, constant a neat cable will be formed. It cardboard is fine too but it must be 1 mm fit it to where the transistor and diode are sounds complicated but it really works. or 40 thou thick. This is not a particularly already mounted and mark where the Once the cable's been made, it's an easy critical dimension and ±20% is fine but mounting holes come on the board from the wind job to it on the former. The coil some spacer is absolutely necessary. Cut out heatsink mounting tab and on the heatsink former has two rows of six pins so the pieces of the material you choose to exactly from the semiconductors. Remove the seventh strand must be terminated on top the same shape as the mating surfaces of the heatsink and drill appropriate holes to of one of the others but no problems. Spread core halves and assemble them in place. mount the semiconductors, bearing in mind out the start of your beautiful cable (after Use the clip provided to hold the whole lot that the tabs must be insulated from the trimming off the ratty bit where you got the together and you're ready to place the coil in heatsink. Next, mark off where there is free knack) and tin all the ends. Solder them to the board. space on the heatsínk and mount three all the pins on one side of the coil former The next component to be made is the small TO220 secondary heatsinks as then shown wind two layers of closely spaced heatsink to cool the main switching FET in the photo. Keep them as far to one side

(L0-;:;AN. r : . The heatsink. Figure 3. Heatsink measurements. 50 - ETI December 1986 pot with ammeter range change switch and resistors to the board as shown; and, most importantly, the output to the feedback from the output terminals. A diode must be connected across the ammeter so that when current ranges are switched the ammeter isn't destroyed! The last thing to attend to is r to wire up the power on LED complete with ballast resistor. I wired it up from available wiring on the front panel to the unregulated plus and minus rails (they're both available). Two heavy leads should be connected to the plus and minus inputs to the board and then to the connector on the rear panel that has the outputs from the diode bridge. As a final check trace out all the wiring you've installed and make sure that it follows the circuit design exactly. Start right at the mains input socket and work through the mains switching, transformer, diode bridge VIL and on to the pcb. Trace out all the front panel wiring insuring that the diode is across the current meter in the right direction. It may come to pass that either or both of the control pots are in the wrong way. This is fine and won't cause any harm and you can reverse it (them) when you test the unit. After all this is done the power supply is just about ready for the really exciting part - the testing. main inductor. The Testing the power supply as possible as the free area of the heatsink ance is not all that critical so I made the To be quite candid this is the part I really has to be split with a hacksaw and bent to pieces of copper wire rather short. This dislike - probably because it can show up 'form fingers, once again as shown in the means that when they get hot (as they will mistakes so dramatically. You actually have photo. The whole idea of heatsinks is to get because they're small) their resistance will to plug a mains cord into the back of the heat away from the hot devices and get it change. This is because copper shows a thing and turn it on. The first step is to do into the surrounding air. To this end as positive temperature coefficient of about exactly that. If the green power LED comes many fingers as possible are good - hence 0.4% per degree C. It doesn't matter for the on then you've passed the first test. If the all the added bits and slitting. You may wish overload sense as we are only interested in whole thing doesn't catch fire and burn to to improvise further and it is really a case of much too much. The wire is 8.5 thou the ground then you've passed the second 'more is better' so long as you can get the lid diameter or 0.216 mm and three strands are test. Now comes the serious stuff. First on! used in parallel. The wire should be cut to check that you've got about 22 to 23 volts After you've made the heatsink, mount it length and tinned before being inserted in dc on the rear panel connector that brings on the board and attach ít with a screw the board or you'll lift the copper laminate power to the board. Next check that the through the long foot that sticks out through trying to tin the enamalled wire in position. voltage regulation is working by connecting the diode and FET. The diode and FET can The second current sense resistor is used a couple of 220 ohm resistors in parallel then be mounted on the board with for current limit information as well as across the output terminal. These are to minimum lead lengths. Both devices must driving the meter circuit so it needs to be ensure that the output capacitors have be screwed to the heatsink with insulating more stable. The same wire is used as before somewhere to discharge to when the output spacers. After mounting and screwing down but this time six strands are used to avoid voltage is reduced. Now vary the voltage the power semiconductors check that the getting the copper too hot. In the model control pot and ensure that the output tabs are insulated from the heatsink. only three strands of a heavier wire were voltage does indeed vary. If it does and goes The next device that has to be made is the used which is OK if you have reels of all the right way (clockwise rotation increases toroidal rfi stopper. Just about any ferrite sorts of wire available, but a bit of a pain if the voltage) then at least the voltage control toroid will do here. It only has to be able to you don't circuitry's working. The voltage should take six turns of the heavy duty wire used to The rest of the board is straightforward. vary between 0 and 16 volts on the hook up the whole power supply. If the ends Be sure to get the ICs in the right way round, voltmeter. of the windings can be connected directly to particularly the electrolytics (they're a bit At this point it's a good idea to check the the holes in the board then the core is pricy). Once the board is assembled you're voltmeter calibration. The best you can wound correctly. ready to start assembly of the whole beast. really do is check it against the very best The last (and easiest) components that All the wires to the front panel are arranged voltmeter you can find or borrow. A have to be made are two current sense along the front end of the board. Follow the 31/2 -digit DVM is more than enough. If resistors. The first is in the source of the circuit diagram carefully and connect the there's a bad problem then you may have to FET and is used to detect extreme current voltmeter through its resistors to the output change one of the resistors in series with the overloads that may arise. Here the resist - terminals; the ammeter and current control meter but I found that meter non-linearities ETI December 1986 - 51 PRioDsca 11 533

far outweighed calibration errors. current out of the power supply and adjust The next part of the regulator circuit to RV4 until the ammeter reads the same check is the current sensing and current current. I will assume that you have a good ETI-1533 - PARTS LIST limit. First wind the output voltage down to current meter that accurately reads 2 amps zero and the current limit control fully (or in my case 1.999 amps). Wind both Ip anticlockwise (minimum current if you controls fully anticlockwise and then con- Resistors- all W, 2% metal film unless noted wired it correctly). There are two trimpots nect the ammeter across the output ter- R1, 2, 3, 4, that must be adjusted to set the current minals. Adjust up the output voltage until 5, 6, 10 4k7 metering. The first controls the LM355 stable current is flowing. At this point the R7, 8, 9, offset and hence the output meter zero. outside ammeter in my case read about 130 11,12 1kO With the output open circuit (the resistors mA. Next wind up the output current until R13,18 1OR R14 5k6 placed across the output earlier removed), the power supply ammeter reads 2 amps. R15 120R adjust RV3 until the output set ammeter on Adjust RV4 until the ammeter you are R16,29 12R the 0-2 amp range just reads zero. You calibrating against reads the same and the R17 3k3 should find that for trimpot settings overly job is done. R18 7k5 anticlockwise the current reading rises It is quite possible that the range of RV4 R19 130k R20 rapidly. Don't worry, it's only the reading may not be enough. This is because RV4 is 1511 and 10 amps isn't actually going some- adjusting for variations R21 1k5 in the resistance of R22 100R where. Set the pot so the meter is on the the current sense pieces of copper wire. If R23, 24 see text verge of showing something. this is the case it may be necessary to fiddle R25, 26 30k 1% Next, place a short circuit across the R20 or R29 until correct calibration is R27, 28 100k 1% output. This should cause no current to achieved. Cutting, tinning and soldering in R30 390k 1% 1131 120k1% flow. Select the 0-2 amp range on the the pieces of wire results in a very uncertain RV 1, 2 1k linear log front range panel current switch and slowly increase the resistance value. mounting voltage out (just a little bit is enough). The final step in checking out the power RV3 20k pcb mounting cermet About 100 mA should show on the supply is to run it under full load and make trimpot RV4 ammeter and this is fair dinkum current. sure nothing gets too hot. This is not as easy 20R pcb mounting cermet trimpot Adjusting the set current control should as it sounds as you have to get rid of an vary the current on the ammeter and, once awful lot of power in the load. I made up an Capacitors Cl, 2 22m Philips Type again, it is the real thing coming out of the awful mess of steel wire on a wooden frame 2222-051-46223 or equiv power supply terminals. to approximate the full load resistance C3, 4 2m2 ERO type EYF T2 First check that you have adequate which sort of worked but tended to catch C5, 6 100 n ceramic monolythic control over the 0-2 amp setting (it should fire. A sufficient test for overheating is to C7, 14 1 n5 ceramic plate take about 3/4 pot rotation to get it up to 2 run it at full current for a while and check C8 2n2 metallized polyester amps) then switch to the 20 amp range. that nothing overheats. From this point on C9 220n metallized polyester C10 1n metallized polyester Slowly wind it up to full bore and make sure it is probably OK be a to bit pragmatic C11 10n metallized that nothing bizarre polyester happens, then wind it about the whole thing and say that the C12 22n metallized polyester back. It isn't calibrated yet and you don't current and voltage limits work fine so the Semiconductors know just how much current is really whole regulator should be right. ICI LM3524 flowing. I used a piece of 7/0076 hookup Connect a short circuit across the output IC2 LF355N wire with alligator clips on either end as the and wind the current limit up to 20 amps. IC3 LM311N short circuit and when Í wound the output Check that the heatsink carrying the power IC4 RCA CA3140E up to 20 amps it got very hot! FET and 01 BUZ 11 diode doesn't get too hot. Hot it 02 The next step is to will BC337 calibrate the current certainly get but not too hot. If this is 03 BC327 meter. What is needed is to set up a known all OK then you've built a power supply. 04 BC559 D1, 2 20 A 50 V cathode to stud D3, 4 20 A 50 V anode to stud 05 15 A 30 V Schottky barrier R]4 TO220 ZD1 18 V 0.4 W Zener ZD2 5.6 V 0.4 W Zener D6 1N914 LED1 green LED Transformers TR1 Ferguson TF4244 TR2 see text u. Miscellaneous ETI-1533 pc board; 255 x 205 x 100 mm case; 1 x SPOT; 1 x DPDT toggle switches; 2 x knobs; heatsink; 3 x banana sockets; 4 x rubber feet; 2 x 50 mA panel meters; cable ties; mains wire and hookup wire; heatshrink tubing; 4 x BA nuts and bolts; screws to fit transformer; 2 A fuse; fuseholder; Euro IEC connector; 2 x terminal lugs; 2 x 20 A terminal blocks; 1" x 1.5" L-shaped aluminium extrusion; Scotchcal front panel. R]] Price Estimate: $250

52 - ETI December 1986

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An introduction to the world of 16 -bit computing. The ETI-1616 is the highest performance computer design ever published in a magazine. 16BIT Andrew Morton & Paul Berger

THE TROUBLE WITH most kit computers is that once built, tested, and shown - 1 off at the local computer club, the user realizes that, as far as a personal computer ! ± is concerned, it's not particularly useful, and n C the exercise is rationalized as being "very rent ENT RONICS educational". A It 1 The 1616 does not suffer from that problem. It sports similar features and 1 specifications to the latest personal com- 4 puters, like the Amiga and Atari ST, and the tn ` classic design architecture of the Apple II and IBM PC. 8 The difference is that it's a kit 1 6 w computer. Building your own will, firstly, w allow an insight into the workings of the system, and secondly, significantly reduce the overall cost. The fact that it's a kit does 6 y No c- not detract from the performance or fea- ' .1/ ,1 .t Iu tures of this machine. r. CT tnsf , In 111. The 68000 L VIA t+ When we started the initial design of the 1616 (the nameless wonder at that stage); we looked around at the various micropro- a4. CPU cessors used in popular computers. Eight - bit processors were out of the question. i They simply were not powerful enough. The Intel 8088/86 (as used in the IBM PC) was an obvious choice, but that would mean that the machine would inevitably be just another IBM-compatible. We didn't Li think the world could handle another one i1 a 8.t and the 8088 is barely a 16-bit microproces- + . sor anyway. .. e -+ The < w e a$ Motorola 68000 is by far a better oo choice. Most of the new computers are using it including the Apple Macintosh, TIMING tl E Commodore Amiga and Atari ST. /WrLK The 68000, a true 16 -bit microprocessor, , a has a 16 -bit data bus and a 24-bit address Ry 4 bus (giving access to 16 megabytes of till.,t fl.. 1i + u + ri i; ! memory). Some people call it a 32-bit a t. Or t e a u w processor because of its 32 -bit wide registers A,r) 4 e . and internal data path. .i INTERRUPT CONTROL .üa 1, (1 C. sA . . ti M t C1 d 'ft We thought its architecture was very .1 1 a b 7 t. 0 We r¡ broad and strong. In a, ei q addition, we wanted . t_ ...y o s something to support graphics, which the C rua 68000 does particularly well. Our view was o - W that superior graphics is one of the main ". reasons for upgrading to 16 -bit So 68000 it was! 54 - ETI December 1986

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The 1616 was designed by Paul Berger and Andrew Morton after extensive discussion with ETI staff earlyin 1986. Berger and Morton run a computer supply and design company called Applix Ltd in the Sydney COMPUTER suburb ofBeverly Hills. They are currently working on enhancements to the 1616.

1.1 1 r'II « t'r1'I : :{' , t 4*, t , ,r .t.t. . . ,Rt,.A-, I1N'i r7 k - t , R , / .. ry 1 .+t1 it ' '-" h , t ; . v =, 51, r JOYSTICK - m : t - . 11 . _ : v , .i . t ' tZ t ° t 1 Á t ro . ° r ' ' t3 t . ' 7 ' r . . , tl C e " ! ` " SOUND '^ ,' "< ' ' t ` - SERIAL `r,: e' o, ` ^ ill, MIS ' O .... 0 . _' VVV ' C men" i Pr.--- : t .. . , ee ,.. , . ; ' 00 . . >. ° , . 1 ''' , r ñ tio4° 0% ",e I". 90 , , Llj.1 1 xct'C. _. ...:._..s...... t' G ANALOGUE ° C 1I CONTROL , r' , < ' 5 5 1 II : . 1 .:3 1_ é S" xP ...... it 4 0 0 -rressrseessaaoresr , $_ '--' 3o s ti 0t..o u 0 0 o4sr °aOr : 0% o e 4 +s ar 1 , . r r e ' 7 c, , Q 3 °t O C.. O,1 . r 00,i O et t t* t e t Lr , t t VIDEO , Cc ra c : o _ 0 CO {o t` : + ii 4,1,°` b c t1 3' o aeeeeeeatestaaaee r D r- o c « D t ca o 1 0 0 0°O0 01000* t O 4 « o O 0 . 0###*+ os 00 C a re1f,l '. +. O- t0 ft C C ¡ a It it i O« O 1"V 4 VC,TDO.r1.,3a\ e v t ce .. p to t 0 a t n t t. o' t t t3 '. t. 4 t , , t e f 1M v r o ' 6C RAM t ° : : á`- N 1 p, r t. C st ' 7' U 1 u r 9 4 t t ..... Y.../ t. '1 , .., °f4 t ' D b V C' 3 Y p : n - w...... ell e . o e ti t RAM 1; e Co tf b r ' F í1 4 J CQ i 1 `r ti 4 3 4G it. 1 I 1.. :º h4 t. ' I>w 11 p r v ^to xr 1 t1 , N 1 U O YC -0 t t., ;t ,Í ü . t, e 1 u . w t O o44t Q ' a r Y 4 ti ' 4 C. 1 p 1 C 10 O e t 3 O ' ' 1t e e r u '' b b e I. e I. b l. 0 Id r t 0 u O, } t ' ü ' 4 4 ' d D tt t ° t1 4 a C A Y O C J A t,. , 4 " t, * . O {r O t. C b _ O ' t et r .te . e t te i t. j 4 t,r q u t ... r ... .'1 B O t 0 a o , 4 e 4 I. 1 0, ! ° '° '' n iv

ETI December 1986 - 55 pQoDscR 1 911 g

Design criteria drive is attractive, however, it has a ETI-1616 Look at the popular Apple I1 and IBM PC problem. A disk controller on the SPECIFICATIONS AT A GLANCE computers. They both have a motherboard motherboard raises the complexity con- Microprocessor with processor, RAM, ROM, video and lots siderably. We thought it best to leave this to Motorola 68000, 16/32 -bit microprocessor of expansion slots. Both work in their an expansion board and do the job properly. (16 -bit external data bus/32-bit Internal data minimal form and can be expanded to A tape system allows you to use the path and registers) running at 7.5 MHz. complete systems as required, or finances computer at its minimum level without emory 512K bytes dynamic RAM using 16 standard allow. having to go buy a out and disk drive 41256 memory chips. Expandable to 4.5 1616 The takes this basic form one step immediately. We have tried to make the megabytes total on board. 8 M directly further. It is a single board design which tape system as workable as possible, using addressable in expansion units of the board. serves as a solid foundation on which to the available memory as a RAM disk. It is ROM build a complete, low cost, useful personal very fast (over 3000 bits per second) and Up to 128K bytes of on -board ROM. Graphics computer. very reliable, and uses a standard cassette Four modes as standard; 320 x 200 16 design colours, The is based on a mixture of what recorder. 640 x 200 any four of 16 colours, software or we wanted, what was needed and what was The other necessary peripherals are also hardware scroll. Standard 16 -colour RGBI available. For example, once we had chosen bog standard. The 1616 requires an IBM interface or composite video with 16 shades of grey. the 68000 processor (which has a 16 -bit keyboard, and an Apple power supply. The Sound data bus), and since standard memory chips real thing, or any cheap clone, will do the Stereo sound with output to hi-fi and on -board are only one wide, was bit it obvious that we trick. amplifier for direct connection to speakers. needed 16. The design cotild take either 64K Mass storage or 256K chips so that we would end up with On -board high speed, block orientated cassette 128K and 5I2K respectively. As it turns Interface with motor control. 'RAM disk' support Hardware software in ROM. out, I28K is a bit squeezy so the standard The 1616 hardware Keyboard on -board RAM is 512K. consists of 68 integrated circuits mounted on a 394 mm x 210 mm Uses standard IBM -style detachable keyboard. Similarly, since ROM chips are eight bits Expansion ports double sided, plated through printed circuit wide, we needed two. Using today's high Four 80 -pin expansion slots with all 68000 board. It is powered by an external power capacity ROM chips we ended up with a signals; tor memory expansion, floppy and hard supply providing V, V, -5 total on -board ROM of 128K bytes. +5 +12 V and disk interface, etc. Centronics compatible paral- -12 V similar to that used in the lel printer port. Dual serial (RS232 as We wanted to pack as many features onto Apple II. standard) The design may be broken up as follows. ports using standard Z8530 SCC, with pro- the motherboard as possible. a We drew up grammable baud rates up to 1 megabit. list of necessary and desirable options and Processor/memory/video Analogue two -button joystick port using stan- went through them one by one, putting The heart of the system is, of course, the dard Apple -type controllers. User port: general them in and taking them out. 68000 microprocessor. Video generation is purpose analogue and digital I/O port for experimenting (ie, We just had to have colour graphics, and controlled by a 6845 CRT controller chip. EPROM programmers, speech input, etc). sound was attractive. Joystick? Of course! The 32K bytes of video display data is In-built software Everyone is into communications now- obtained from the on -board memory and is Powerful monitor, full screen editor, assembler, adays, so serial ports are a must. This also entirely bit mapped, hence there is no need terminal emulation, communications and oper- allows the computer to be used as a terminal for a character generation ROM. The ating system (graphics support, etc). to something bigger (or smaller). We didn't display bit map may be located at any 32K want to limit the serial ports to RS232, so address boundary, allowing the use of the design allows the serial ports to also be multiple display pages. I/O and is used for various functions used for networking, hooking up a mouse, a The dynamic memory is refreshed by the including cassette, keyboard, sound, MIDI interface, RS422, etc. One would continuous reading performed by the video Centronics, video and interrupt control. eventually want to add a printer so a circuitry. A I6R8 PAL (programmable Analogue input/output parallel printer port is in. array logic) device, clocked at 30 MHz, This section includes sound generation, All that's left is mass storage. It's tape! resolves the contention between the 68000 joystick control, general purpose/analogue This was a major decision. Obviously, a and the video circuitry during memory I/O and cassette I/O. Most of these accesses. This same PAL provides most of functions use the eight -bit digital -to - the system's timing requirements. analogue converter chip and CMOS ana- Video data is read 16 bits at a time from logue multiplexers. main memory and is clocked serially to the Serial input/output video output stage. The 1616 communications chip, the Zilog Video output 8530 SCC (serial communications control- The serial bit stream is converted into a ler), provides dual synchronous and asyn- four -bit format suitable for display on an chronous data transfers at a wide range of RGB1 (red/green/blue/intensity) or com- programmable baud rates. The board has posite monochrome monitor by another been designed to comply with the RS232C ,16R8 PAL and associated circuitry. A standard, but provision has been made for control input to the video PAL selects implementation of virtually any line disci- between either 320 or 640 pixels per line. pline by the use of an appropriate interface In 640 mode, a four x four bit register file card. chip provides a palette of any four colours The expansion ports from the possible 16. A latch provides the The 1616 has four 80 -pin expansion border colour around the display area. In connectors which make available power 320 mode, 16 colours are available. supplies, all of the 68000's signals and 6522 VIA (versatile interface adaptor) clocks. These permit peripheral cards such The 6522 VIA chip provides the computer as memory expansion and disk controllers Figure 2. Memory map. with eight bits of general purpose parallel to be connected. 56 - ETI December 1986 10-b2 prmoul woapuibcr

x Ñ RAS CASE CASH 28530 ETC. 6522 ROMSEL 21" ROM 4 CRTCCS VSYNC VAl-VA14 RESET RESET A1 -A14 LO RAM 68000 CPU 2764 OISPEN A15 1.825M 6845 27512 A 16- IS x 41256 CRTC D15 VA1 OT a RM1V7.5MLAS,UPS,I . 08-015

RAS DATA IN DATA OUT CASE 11OMSEL TIMING CASH MUX CRTCCS SCCCS i PAL 15M INTERRUP VIACS 3.75M CONTROL WAMUX 1 025M W DAC LPULSE RIPORT WRENT VIDEO DATA Al -A20 BUFFERS EXPANSION CONNECTORS DO -D15 4 80 -PIN

ERIO0-EIRO3 x Vl = s < C --ALL 6800 d Qr g TIMING + ó i $ 3 8 a -BUS CONTROL i i NT DTc INPUT INT LATCH LATCH 74E5244 08530 SCC 6522 VIA 74 4 .74LS374

1,1 L 2; PALETTE ifii:iimmf .IQJ $VGQ: 1"1'.VQYM V 74LS670 Wj6< ZrZ I W u V V U AO LM3l9 ANAL N Lr AOUT' IN OUT 40 1 4052 Ó 2 a WUU N

Figure 1. ETI-1616 block diagram. Softwtmre System control and device drivers. These function key programming; status display; The 64K bytes of software contained in the manage all input/output devices, most of system invoking pull screen editor and 1616 ROM went through a similar evol- which are buffered and interrupt -driven. assembler. ution to the hardware, but there was one This includes serial I/O, parallel output, Other factor involved: time. When design- keyboard input, cassette 1/O, RAM disk file All the operating system commands system and ing a computer system, the hardware is management, video output and support full I/O redirection. The output usually the easiest part and takes relatively timer ticks, etc. input for the execution of the command little time. Making the hardware actually do System routines. These are a collection of may be directed to and from devices and something is the difficult part. That's where routines which application programs may RAM disk files. the software comes into play. call for: Full screen editor. This is a fast WordStar - with I/O device Most of the 1616 software is written in communicating like editor which operates upon RAM - the C programming language with portions drivers; based files. reconfiguring I/O device drivers; written in 68000 assembler for maximum assembler which installing/removing device drivers and Assembler. A resident speed. reads standard Motorola mnemonics from feature is the RAM disk file system routines and monitor com- A key a RAM disk text file, producing executable This brings the mands; management software. 68000 code. I616's operating system closer to a disk invoking the line editor and command and terminal emulation. system than to a tape one. From I28K to interpreter, Communications transferring files and communicating 347K of memory may be used for storing file access. For with files. Operating system. This interprets and acts other computers. To understand the software better, it can upon commands typed in by the users. details ofthe design will be published in be logically divided into the following These commands include: Full memory examining. moving, filing, up and coming issues of ETI. The hardware, sections: . and construction and operating Diagnostic functions. These routines are comparing and searching; software full will be published in February, invoked by the setting of the sense switches. calculator and base conversion; instructions and April next year. Details ofsupply They force the 68000 to perform simple time and date set and display; March will be available in the February operations which aid the testing of the cassette loading and saving; ofthe 1616 issue. board during construction. serial port programming; ETI December 1986 - 57 pQo»©.R 114AT DYNAMIC NOISE R _CTION SYSTEM

Tell tape noise to hiss off and expand the dynamic range of your frequencies in your music as well. So what tape deck using the ETI-1407 dynamic noise reduction system! is required is a way of removing the high frequency hiss without reducing the high frequency content of your music. One Neale Hancock method is to boost the high frequencies as the music is being recorded, then cut them DESPITE ITS CONVENIENCE magnetic Wherefore problems by the same amount when the music is tape recording suffers from some played back. severe Noise on tape recordings is a relative disadvantages. Poor The theory behind this signal-to-noise ratio problem, ie, relative to the audio signal. It method of reduc- (around 55 dB), poor range ing noise runs as follows. In dynamic and is apparent mostly during quiet passages audio signals distortion (1% to 3%) are of such as speech and music, low pretty common music as a hiss clearly audible over the frequency trade-offs for easy recording, signals have the most energy. playback or music. To make tape noise less noticeable, Thus you hear erasure. The fight back has the bass sounds of music come with the the music can be recorded at a higher played in the next various noise reduction input room (or next house your systems incorpor- level, increasing the signal-to-noise if neighbours are ated into modern tape ratio by headbangers) more or cassette players. simply increasing the signal level. easily, because the Unfortunately not all However, energy of the bass of us have them or are magnetic tape tends to saturate when sounds enables them to willing to buy new players the travel through walls. to get one. Enter input signal level is too high, and Conversely, noise has the ETI-1407. the result greatest energy in is as often as not a distorted signal the high frequency range, and, in which is where The magnificent ETI-1407 dynamic severe cases, a signal which the audio signal has its least. noise disappears So boosting the reduction system enables you to altogether. This effect is referred high frequency signal gives to as drop- it the energy it improve the signal-to-noise ratio of your out and is caused by magnetic needs to overcome the noise tape particles on introduced by deck by up to 18 dB without treble the tape not being able to accept the magnetic tape. Cutting high signal both the signal and attenuation. It expands dynamic range levels. So back to low input levels. noise on playback allowing restores the musical you to make recordings from High frequency hiss, the most noticeable signal to its original compact form, but with reduced discs, and depending on how you form of tape noise, can be removed noise. use it you by This method of noise can also eliminate some distor- turning down the treble control of your hi- reduction is known tion. as pre-emphasis/de-emphasis fi, right? But that gets rid of all the high and is used in FM broadcasting. A graphical representation of its effect on noise is illustrated in Figure I. Whilst pre -emphasis may give the audio signal the boost it requires to overcome noise, it also places greater demands on the w limited dynamic range of the tape. The boost given to high frequencies can be as much as 20 dB and when this is added to 90 dB odd of signal (in the case of recording from CD), your humble cassette tape will have a rupture trying to cope with 100 dB of dynamic range! To enable signals with 110 ETl1407 dB IN of dynamic range to be squeezed onto a r DYNAMIC BYPASS tape capable of handling only 60 dB, 'the NOISE REDUCTION signal has to be compressed during record- SYSTEM ing, then expanded at playback to recover the signal's dynamic range. L So the signal flow for a dynamic noise reduction system runs as follows: input signal is pre -emphasised, then compressed and recorded onto tape; when played back from the tape the signal is expanded then de-emphasised. This sequence is shown in block diagram form in Figure 2. 58 - ETI December 1986 no51® Qigdk©Wn 1/4@g1

RECORD IN RECORD OUT PLAY IN PLAY OUT . II.

O SW1,2 A

10 '1 .

33 R4,21 R8 , 25 R14, 31 R16, ASV :AV 1H 10K 10K 82K 18K 27 ISV 1C4. 10µF R1,18 1SV CA 23 15V A1OK 15V 2 C19 _ 1K 2 IC1,7 C11, 30 T C16,35 106 6 11- C1 , 20 2 16 - R15 2.2K RS 22 101 7,9 150nF nFu , R6 32 : 2.21( 1C2,8 i C14,105. 3 23 PLAY NZ 33 28 12.2 812,29 100K C9, Ó1T IN IC4 R17 34 3 C5, 3 ISV ISV 150nF C10,29 6,11K BUFFER C15,34 C17, 36 R R 1 56 2141110 15V R3,20 2 I56nF 12K T 15V 1.7e RI1,28 3 13 O 16 C6, 25 C/2i C13,32 m 3.3K e 31p1µF Q4.7µF 7,9

2,1 C7, 26 BUFFER 2.2pF LED 1 4,1 IC3 C2 C3 ' RIO ,27 21 4 22 4 3,13 1.7µF 1 18F1_ 3.3K _t TERMINAL BLOCK

IC12

ETI-1407 - HOW IT WORKS NOSE POWER SPECTRAL As this circuit has two channels there are the attack time of the compressor to 40 ms DENSITY OF THE TAPE two part numbers for each component For while C2 sets the recovery time to 200 ma. The convenience sake only the higher value output from this stage is recorded onto tape. BEFORE DE-EMPHA9S component will be referred to. The signal played back from the tape is ICI provides 20 dB of pre -emphasis to the expanded by 2:1 via IC4 and ICS. This incoming signal, the amount of gain is set by expansion ratio is set by R16. Pin 7 of IC4 is the resistor pair, R1 and R4. The combination the signal input into the expander, while pin 3 of Cl and R3 sets the lower breakpoint of the is the rms detector input. The output from pin pre -emphasis filter (see Figure 3) while the 5 of IC4 is converted to a voltage via the op - upper breakpoint is set by R2 and C1. amp, ICS. Capacitor C12 sets the attack time The output from the pre -emphasis stage constant whilst C13 sets the release time AFTER OE-EMPHASIS goes to the compressor stage which consists constant, both of these are the same as for the of IC2 and IC3. Pin 7 of IC3 is the input to the compressor stage. variable gain cell and pin 3 is the rms detector The de -emphasis filter consists of IC6, C16, input. The rrns detector and the variable gain C17 and R17. This filter removes the 20 dB cell interact to compress the dynamic range of boost created by the pre -emphasis filter. C16, FREQUENCY the signal. The current output from pin 5 of IC3 C17 and R17 set the cut-off point, and are is the compressor output, which is converted chosen to match the response of this filter with into a voltage via the op -amp IC2. R8, R9 and the response of the pre -emphasis filter. The Figure 1. Noise power spectral density/frequency. C8 set the compression ratio at 2:1. C3 sets output from this stage goes to the amplifier.

ENCODING RECORD PLAY DECODING IN OUT

0 0 DE- To SIGNAL PRE 21 2:1 EMPHASIS AMPLIFIER SOURCE EMPHASIS COMPRESSION 0 EXPANSION

1 t I 0000 . I L.

Figure 2. Block diagram of noise reduction system.

ETI December 1986 - 59 priloAsiga 114A77

1.6 kin 10 IA:

o® H

OE -EMPHASIS FL1FF RESPONSE

Figure 3. Characteristics of pre -emphasis/ de -emphasis filters.

Circuit The ETI-1407 dynamic noise reduction system applies 20 dB of pre -emphasis to audio signals above 1.6 kHz. The total signal is then compressed by a 2:1 ratio, which means that a signal with a dynamic range of 110 dB is compressed to 55 dB. The expansion ratio for signals played back from the tape is correspondingly 2:1, then the de -emphasis filter cuts signals above 1.6 kHz. (See Figure 3 for the characteristics of these filters.) Since the pre-emphasis and de -emphasis filters are both first order and have the same breakpoint, there should be no colouration of the sound passing through the noise The NE -572 has a low noise floor the noise reduction system (encoded sig- reduction system. This is the ideal. In (typically 6 µV), a wide dynamic range (1 10 nals) can only be played back via the noise practice the filters do have slightly different dB) and relatively low distortion (typically reduction system (decoded). If an encoded breakpoints and there may be a slight peak 0.05%). (The noise floor and. distortion signal is played back without any decoding or dip in the frequency response. To figures for the NE-572 are much better than then it will hardly be dynamic and will minimize the size of this irregularity, 1% for its predecessor, the NE -571.) suffer an excess of treble. Alternatively, if a resistors are used to set the breakpoints. In Hum and noise contributed by the noise normally recorded signal is decoded, the two units which I tested, the mismatch led reduction system was measured at -86 dB music will lack treble and be over -dynamic. to a 2 dB boost to the treble above 10 dB for hum and -92 dB for noise with a which is not detrimental to the recorded reference signal of 1 kHz at a 0.7 voltage Construction music. In effect, it makes up for some of the rms. Distortion for the same input con- Before soldering anything to the circuit deficiencies in the tape's frequency re- ditions was around 0.1%, which is negli- board, check it for defects such as sponse. broken or gible compared to the distortion contrib- bridged tracks. Begin construction of The desired the amount of pre -emphasis and uted by the tape deck. With the noise circuit board by soldering in the five wire de -emphasis is via applied first order active reduction system connected up to a tape links. Next solder in all the resistors. Since filters. NE -5534 low noise op -amps are used deck, noise was reduced by around 16 dB. many of them are 1%, be sure to mount to ensure that the system itself contributes This level made it possible to achieve a them ín the correct locations. As the colour as little noise as possible. An NE -572 dynamic range of 74 dB compared to a 58 coding of 1% resistors can be confusing it is programmable compandor compresses and dB dynamic range obtained without noise a good idea to check values with expands the their a audio signal via a variable gain reduction. multimeter before you insert them. cell coupled with a level detector. To While the ETI-1407 is effective in remov- Next mount all the capacitors, but check convert the current the output from NE -572 ing unwanted noise without noticeably that the electrolytic capacitors are polarized into a voltage, an external low noise op - affecting the signal, it does have one correctly. amp is required. limitation: signals recorded onto tape via The low noise op -amps (ICs 1,2,5,6,7,8,9

PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY REC REC REC REC IN OUT IN OUT IN OUT IN OUT

LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT

60 - ETI December 1986 RIGHT CHANNEL

RECORD IN SIGNAL INPUT

- RECORD' OUT TD TAPE DECK

PLAY IN' FROM T TAPE DECK

PLAY OUT N A SIGNAL Lt I OUTPUT t! -Lal- -{ R17 F

) IC? ) IC5 ) IC6 -{ R12 f - u

...I R14 I- R15 f- PLAY R11 - R13 OUT RECORD IN

PLAY IN LEFT CHANNE IC3 IC. + GND RECORD IN

-4 R28 SINPIGNUTAL PLAYIN -t R27 1r -r -i R39! }- PLaY GND R21 -i R33 1- OUT RECORD OUT LINK T TODECK,TAPE RECORD ( ces ) .L. OUT ) IC7 !UNK ) ICB ) IC9 PLAY IN /ECORD FROM TAPE DECK R31 R19 }- -i R20 a -f PLAY C R18 áy7Jr YYt.. I OUTPUT \

O G R -0 + b« pn.. a r 1y la.. i 'I/ I'w , ..._ r

_0,--t,c

.5'i J rv4MtM1i4 MS 'trMN+rri/ /d 4101 , -.r CIP41._,A.e e% 110"-ra 411111111h, 11 4,411+11-_ IMP ... 9w11 c-+ 6

'limier" L1

ir u 1 `

Parts mounted In the box. The board. ETI December 1986 - 61 p.QoDsciR cB lOT

IN o BYPASS BYPASS ETI-1407

o o DYNAMIC ON NOISE REDUCTION o LEFT RIGHT SYSTEM

and 10) can now be soldered in, but check Before you apply power to the noise reduction system and the tape deck cor- their orientation against the overlay. Make reduction system, check the pc board for dry rectly. Since the noise reduction system sure they are all orientated the same way. joints and solder bridges. Install a 250 mA consists of an encoding and decoding The 16 -pin companders (1Cs 3 and 4) are fuse in the fuseholder and apply power. The section for both the left and right channels, not particularly cheap, so they should be supply rails should be within 150 mV of 15 each section can be checked separately to mounted in IC sockets. Once the sockets are volts. If they're not, double check the pc diagnose the cause of a fault. The encoding soldered in, a push compander IC into each board for shorts. Connect the REC OUT section can be checked by inputting a signal but of them, make sure that it is oriented in port of the noise reduction system to the into the REC IN socket and listening to it at the same direction as the op -amps. Finish REC IN of your tape deck and the PLAY IN the REC OUT socket. The decoding section off the pc board by soldering in the diodes, to the noise reduction system to the PLAY can be checked by inputting a signal into the and the voltage regulators (ICs I I and 12). OUT of the tape deck. The REC IN to the PLAY IN socket and listening to it at the Mount the transformer, terminal block, noise reduction system is now the input to PLAY OUT socket. switch and fuseholder in the case. The the tape deck and the PLAY OUT from the power cord should be held in place on the noise reduction system takes the place of ETI-1407 PARTS LIST rear panel with a cable clamp. The leads the output from the tape deck. - from the power cord should be connected as The ET1-1407 dynamic noise reduction Resistors all V. watt, follows: the unless noted active (brown) to the fuseholder system can also be used with multitrack 81,7,12,18,24,29 1k 1% metal film and from the fuseholder to the terminal recorders but should be carefully monitored R2,19 100k 1% metal film block; R3,R20 the neutral (blue) straight to the to prevent unpleasant overloading effects. 12k 1% metal film terminal block; and the earth (green) bolted R4,8,9,21,25,26 10k 1% metal film If you require noise reduction for a four R5,16,22,33 to the transformer. The reason for con- track 18k recorder, simply construct two ETI- R6,15,23,32,35 2k2 necting the earth lead in this fashion is not 1407 circuit boards, leaving off the power 810,11,27,28 3k3 only for safety but also to get rid of some of supply from the second board (specifically, R13,30 4R7 the electromagnetic radiation from the C39, C40, R35, LED1, ICII and IC12). R14,31 82k transformer. R17,34 The active and the neutral are Then connect the + 15 volt, -15 volt and 15k 1% metal film then connected to the transformer via the ground lines from one board to another. Capacitors on/off switch. C1,20 For the sake of safety, cover Both circuit boards can be mounted in the 1n greencap the solder C2,13,21,32 joints which connect the trans- one case and the bypass switches 4µ716V electro should C3,12,22,31 1µ former to the fuseholder and to the switch then be labelled 16 V electro ONE to FOUR instead of 04,5,18,23,24,27 47p ceramic with a plastic sleeve or some insulating LEFT and RIGHT. tape. 06,7,10,11,15,25,26,29,30,34 2µ216V electro C8,27 l0µ 16 V electro The input and output sockets can now be Testing C9,19,28,38 150n greencap connected to the bypass C14,33 270p switches, SW I and Commence testing by recording a piece of ceramic SW2, via two C16,35 820p ceramic short lengths of four core music (preferably with very as quiet well as C17,36 5n8 shielded wire. These switches can be greencap very dynamic parts), turning the left hand C39,40 470µ configured for a number 25 V electro of different polling switch to the BYPASS position and the C41,42 220n arrangements, but greencap for our needs four-pole right hand switch to the IN position. Replay Semiconductors two -position will do. D1-4 The switch can be set the music listening alternatively to the left 1N4004 to this configuration by changing the and right LED1 red, 5 mm channels, especially in the quiet IC1,2,5,6,7,8,9.10 position of a ring which fits around the shaft parts. NE -5534 low noise op -amp The channel with the noise reduction IC3,4 NE of the switch. The ring has -572 dual compander a pin on its should have much less hiss. If this channel IC11 perimeter which fits in 7815 a hole to select the sounds more distorted take note IC12 number of positions of the 7915 required. The bypass recording level and make future recordings switches can then Miscellaneous be connected to the pc at a lower level. 2 x 4 -pole 2 -position rotary switch; 1 board vía some short lengths of x DPDT toggle shielded If you don't succeed in recording switch; 1 x mains transformer with 0, 15 and 30 volt wire. Connect the any- shield of the wire linking thing on the outputs; case to suit; ETI-1407 pc the tape, check the wiring which board; 2 x 4 way switch to the pc board. Finally RCA panel connectors; 4 link the connects the rotary switches to the input -core shielded cable. transformer to the pc board and connect i the and output sockets and to the pc board. Also ED to the pc board via flying leads. Price estimate: check that you have connected the noise $95-$100 62 - ETI December 1986 Prices so low, you 'd t we were Santa Clausrn\ Professional Logic Arlec 12V/4A Fans at Cool Prices International Keep your . Battery Charger Walkie Talkies - Probe equipment running perfect for the kids!! Professional Komoden Perfect for the car, boat or caravan. cool. Super efficient Logic Probe has all the Hefty 4A output 'muffin' style fan. A pair of these fantastic features. Large, easy to rend ammeter 80mm (WI x 80mm little communicators will Works from 3-18V Protection with automatic circuit HT2Ó/230 (D). keep the kids quiet! Frequency range b eaker V Price for the pair. (Does C to 10MHz dDouble insulated for safety operation 50/60Hz not include batteries). /Iv,V guarantee RPM. r 0 Detects pulses to 30 2 year 9W, 2650 nanoseconds Going for o song only Red LED for high and only for Xmas)! Green LED for low logic $25 levels 537.95 only pair only $36.00 $19.95

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Ltd Mail Charges: Transistors at Santa SHERIDAN ELECTRONICS Pty 55.00-59.99 $3.50 Claus Prices 164-166 Redfern St., Redfern 510.00-524.99 54 50 56 50 10 x 2SA999 (NPN 50V) We wish all our customers, 525.00-549.99 NSW 2016 $8 00 10 x 2SB888 (PNP 50V) past, present and future a 550.00-599.99 1ft 5922, 699 6912 59 00 Moulded TO18 type package. Phone (02) 699 merry Xmas and Seasons 5100 or over The twenty for only: $1.50 Mail Orders to: PO Box 229 Large or overweight articles U f Greetings. sent Skyroad Freight. Mats at Low Redfern NSW 2016 Trading Hours: Pressure Bankcard, Mastercard & VISA. However we cannot give Mon -Fri 9am - 5.30pm Note: We accept Minimum Pressure Prices/ discounts on Credit Card purchases or account orders. Thurs. 9am - 6.30pm quantity exclusive of postage for account orders is $50.00. Minimum order is 510.00 Sat. 9 30am - 1.00pm Sales Tax. 175mm x 530mm. and packing. All prices include OR UNTIL STOCKS ARE SOLD. only $6.80 ALL PRICES ARE FOR THIS MONTH ONLY 4 INSIDE YOUR COMPUTER 6

RS232 This month, the communications 'standard'.

TWO MONTHS AGO, I introduced the RS232 communication is 'serial', which which will probably always use RS232. ASCII code, which standardizes the num- means that the information is sent down bers that computers use to represent par- one signal wire only. This means that the ticular characters. Although the computer eight bits that make up one byte have to be Connector world is not all that hot on standards - sent one at a time in sequence. An The physical layout of an manufacturers tend. to invent RS232 connector their own alternative arrangement is to use 'parallel' is probably the best part when they think they have -kept of the a chance of communications methods such as the standard. It's in crushing all opposition the form of a'D-connector', - the RS232 Centronics printer connection standard, which is a 25 standard is -pin plug a few cm across in the still probably the most wide- which is a bit like the computer's internal spread shape of a flattened letter '11)', with two rows method of connecting peripherals data bus which I ,dealt with in earlier (other bits of of pins (see Figure I). equipment) to computers. articles. There are eight signal wires from RS232 (or, This series is too short tó cover the to give it its full title, RS232C) the computer to the printer and the sets out a internal operation of RS232 in any great. method for getting eight-bit computer sends a byte at a time. binary detail - that would take a mini-series all of numbers - bytes - from one piece Both serial RS232 and parallel of equipment its own. However, 1 will explain all of the to another. Typically, a Centronics standards are widely used for important computer will have an RS232 socket software -related parts, and leave which computer/printer connection, and most you to look the can be connected by a cable to up test in one of the many an RS232 computers and most printers have sockets technical books socket on a printer. Although the printer or articles already pub- for both. Although there is a general trend lished, should you ever need and computer might be from different to know any towards Centronics for printer connection, more about it. manufacturers, the printer will still work there are a number of other peripherals Each bit of the data with the computer (thanks to the RS232 to be sent from the standard. Most of the time. I added that last sentence because although the original RS232 document spelt everything out fairly'well, that was in 1969, and a lot has happened to hardware since then. In those days, people were talking about mainframe computers, where all of the actual computing is done in a box with no screen attached, wired up to terminals - screens with no prssing power via RS232 links. - That's part of the problem. Another is the sheer age (in computer industry terms) of the RS232' document. Over the years, various groups have added to the de facto ' standard without adding to the written standard. Manufacturers have used some of the unused pins in the original standard for special signals from their own printers to their own computers, and sonic of, those conventions have worked their way into everyone's conception of the standard. In short, a lot of confusion exists over RS232. However, it's not as bad as all that. You can still buy a print and a computer and connect them togeth r via an RS232 cable, and the combination will usually work. Figure 1. An R5232 connector (the left-hand one) on the side - of a computer. I t's not as simple as it looks! 64 - ETI December 1986 Baud rates theme) is just as complicated. So both ends have to be sending and WJoral at the same time. expecting the same bit The moral of the story is that if yi , 'ant to This is achieved partly by the use of a buy a computer to do something which number of standard 'baud rates', such as involves the non-standard use of RS232 (ie, 300 baud, 600 baud, 1200 baud, and so on. for other than simple connection of a The 'baud' is defined as the sending and printer), get the supplier to do all the hard receiving of one bit of information each work of setting the machine(s) up. Don't second, so that 300 baud means sending 300 buy until you've seen your device working! bits per second. Now, there is a subtle By comparison, the Centronics standard difference between bits per second and of parallel communication is much simpler. Phil Cohen baud, but we will ignore it for the time In essence, the computer sets the eight data being. lines to high or low voltages, corresponding At a speed of 300 baud, each bit of the to the pattern of bits in the character to be data is sent in 1/300th of a second, so that sent, then it sends a pulse down another to send a complete character of 8 bits takes wire, and the printer recognizes the charac- around 8/300 of a second. ter and prints it. It works faster than RS232 With the baud rate set, both the computer the is represented on and works more often! computer to printer and the printer know when each bit of the line by either a 'high' voltage the signal character is being sent. But then there's the Glossary V representing a between +3 V and +12 problem starting the sending and receiv- Baud: a data transmission rate of one bit per -3 V and of '0', or a 'low' voltage between at the same time, and of allowing for second. settiñg the ing -12 V representing a 'I'. So by minor variations in the measurement of Baud rate: the number of baud that a signal line to +12 V and -12 V the particular communication path is set individual speed at both ends. computer can tell the printer that a long document, it is up for. that When sending bits are either I or 0. Remember possible for the printer to get out of Binary: using Is and Os alone to represent sense) the high quite (contrary to common step with the computer. Even a very small numbers. 0 the low voltage voltage represents and speed difference will cause problems. Bit: Binary digIT, oné digit which is either

I! 1 represents more bits are usually added to 1 or O. rest of the So some That's the essence of it - the These are known as the 'stop bits', Centronics: a printer manufacturer whose sure that the the data. complication ís in making and there are usually one or two of them. printer communication method has the computer is printer knows which bit The stop bits are normally always 'I', and become a de facto standard. example the talking about. Let's take as an the printer to work out when it's D -connector: the type of plug/socket com- letter 'A'. they allow computer sending the bits for a with the computer and take monly used for RS232 connections, ETI October out of step Now in the ASCII code (see appropriate action. If when it expects one of with 25 pins and a shell in the shape represented by the 86), the letter 'A' is the bits, it sees a '0', it knows of a flattened letter 'D'. for 65 stop number 65. The eight -bit binary code something's wrong. Even parity: see 'parity'. appear on an is 01000001, so this would Another little complication is called Least -significant bit the right -most digit in in Figure 2. oscilloscope as shown 'parity'. This is a second way of checking a binary number. Notice that the least -significant bit is sent working OK. In sending, Odd parity: see 'parity'. that that everything's first (ie at the left of the diagram), and it is always very important to Parallel: using more than one signal wire voltage. information, Is are represented by a low know when the message you received is for the same Character at the same is RS232 communication 'synchronous', incorrect, even if you don't know what the time. that the timing of what the which means simply correct message was it can always be sent Parity: a system of checking that happens is critical, and that both ends (ie, - received character has no errors, by must know again. the computer and the printer) Parity means that the number of Is sent adding a bit (called the 'parity bit') is being sent at I to make up the what part of the character is always either an odd number ('odd which is either or 0 any given time. parity') or an even number ('even parity'). number of Is in the character to an an even This is achieved by adding yet another bit to odd number ('odd parity') or the data, called the 'parity bit', which is number ('even parity'). see 'parity'. either I or 0 to make the total count of I s up Parity bit which is to to either an even or an odd number. Peripheral: a piece of equipment 0 1 0 to a computer. 1 0 0 0 0 Now, you may think that all of this be connected - communica- +12V either one or two stop bits, sometimes even RS232C: a standard for serial parity, sometimes odd, sometimes none, tions. signal wire for different baud rates - is confusing and Serial: using only one doesn't look like a standard at all. You are sending information. -12V Stop bit(s): a bit or bits added to the end of quite right. serial when you plug your computer a character being sent using Although The stop bit is of into a new printer it almost always works communications. 1 the it does not. More known state (either or 0 all first time, sometimes receiving you try to use RS232 to let a time), and allows the often, when it is in step. communicate with another com- equipment to make sure computer on both the sender Figure 2. The letter 'A' sent through an RS232 things get very sticky indeed. Using a Synchronous: relying puter, being precisely in step cable, as it would be seen on an oscilloscope. computer to communicate over the 'phone and receiver the least -significant bit (a '1') is sent the message across. Notice that (which uses a variation on the RS232 to get first. ETI December 1986 - 65

4 t sToays

MINI MATRIX BOARD PROJECTS This selection of 20 useful projects to build is an excellent introduction to constructing electronic projects. Thise without arty experience in electronics will find it easy to read and simple to follow. (Usually $6.75) 102pp. 00062B $2.00

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TELEPHONE - Card Expiry Date Look for your order In 4-6 weeks Date Signature DECEMBER '86 (Unsigned orders cannot be accepted) ELECTRONIC INDIA

ELECTRONIC INDIA

Thomas E. King VK2ATJ

There's more industry to India than films! Electronics is booming Transforming itself from an almost and communications is a passion. It's even true to say that in India totally dependent country to a totally self- the DXer reigns! sufficient nation in just under 40 years is no ordinary feat, but then India is no ordinary country! WHEN 'freedom at In 1947 the industrial core midnight' came to built transistor radios or watch trans- of the fledgling India on 15 August 1947, country was the steel and tea news of the missions beamed through indigenously industries, the country's independence cotton mills, and minerals from England came conceived and constructed satellites to and mining. via newspapers which had been Today Indian enterprises in printed on locally manufactured television receivers the private and imported British presses and public sector design and radios built in scattered across the vast subcontinent of engineer complex British factories. Today, many the industrial projects in diverse fields of same India. And if a family doesn't happen to be covering people who witnessed the special steels and superalloys, historic event can home for a particular telecast they can nuclear fuels, read newspapers which were non-ferrous metals, printed by record it on one of the different models fertilizers and chemi- modern offset of cals, power plants machines of Indian design video cassette recorders and transmission lines, and currently being heavy manufacture, listen to stylish Indian - built in India. machinery, railways, dams, roads and bridges. India manufactures ships, automobiles, locomotives, I jet planes, machine tools, power generators and transmission lines, tractors, ad trucks, turbines, boilers, high precision ball bearings, heavy electrical plants, centrifugal pumps, gas cylinders, drilling equipment, gears and gearboxes, construction equipment and industrial cooling towers. In 1986 India possesses expertise, experience and manufacturing capabilities comparable with some of the most advanced countries in the world. }**`. India's accelerated pace of industrial o development has been accompanied by a corresponding growth in technological and managerial skills needed for operating complex industrial enterprises. Today there are nearly 1000 research and development gnstitutions in the country which employ over a million persons. In addition, there are the India -wide technical institutes for the training of ( 4 engineers, supervisors and craftsmen. Such facilities have created the ,Yi third largest reservoir of scientific and technical manpower in the world (after the USA and USSR). About 160,000 qualified scientific and technical personnel each year enter such areas as d crystallography, bio- technology, meteorology and electronics. Electronics India's electronics industry has continued to receive considerable interest from Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi since he assumed office in October 1984. The youthful and 4% progressive head of State of the world's second most populous, seventh largest and ninth most .: ..41d... industrialized country feels that I ia's best known ham family, Mangata, development of the VU2DZM, Banu, VU2DZY, and Indira, electronics industry is Mali VU2DZ, President of the Federation VU2DZZ Is headed by "critical for of Amateur Radio Societies of India. India's growth". The production of electronics in India 68 - ETI December 1986 are among the most active amateurs in over the decade has increased fivefold Bombay. And then, of course, there's the and 1984/85. But this between 1974/75 extensive radio room of the Gandhi family small when compared to the growth seems operated by Priyanka, VU2PRG, Sonia, next five years! A increase planned for the VU2SON, and Rajiv, VU2RG. Both the target (excluding export pro- production Prime Minister and his wife, who have been 100,000 million or around duction) of Rs licensed since 1975, are occasionally active 13,000 million has been set for the end of $A on Sundays from their #7 Race Course seventh Five Year Plan in 1990. (The the Road, New Delhi home. the electronics industry in output of While the very latest ICOM, Kenwood 1984/85 was about $A2,577 million.) and Yaesu amateur radio equipment fea- To achieve such unprecedented growth tures in a slowly increasing number of has adopted a number of the government Indian amateur stations, the vast majority stimulatory measures, some of them quite of amateurs in the country either have They include: radical. home brew shortwave stations or possess liberalization of the licensing policy no equipment at all. With current equip- relating to electronic components with ment costs in India amounting to some Rs the issue of 'broad band' licences to cover 15,000 (or about $A1950) including air a multitude of items from colour TVs freight from Japan, and with the average and tape recorders to electronic toys and 'middle class' income around Rs 1500 to electronic test and measuring instru- 2500 a month, it's easy to understand why ments; commercial equipment is simply not computer policy which allows manufac- a affordable. (Despite this, the number of mini and microcomputers by any ture of amateurs in India is much greater than in all Indian company; of her neighbours combined, the total ham free to technology; access Usha, VU2XYL, a keen supporter of amateur population in Burma, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the establishment of electronics indus- In Bombay is as active In the air radio activities the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri tries in any of a number of permissible as she is on the air! locations. latest Indian -built fighter bomber, the MIG-27, is Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi As well, a greater emphasis is being Inspecting the who as VU2RG is one of the world's most technologically minded heads of State. placed on the role of the Indian Investment Centres in attracting foreign private investment in India. (This Indian, Government organization is a service agency assisting in the establishment of joint ventures in India and abroad, technical collaborations and third country ventures between Indian and ..- foreign entrepreneurs.) A regional office in Singapore (directed by Mrs S.B. Barwa, 138 Robinson Road, Hong Leong Centre, 16th floor, Singapore 0106) has been recently set up to cater to the potentially large number of entrepreneurs from South East Asia, as well as expected investors from Australia. No minimum f investment is required so it's anticipated that even individuals with a small capital reserve will be interested in investing in the electronic future of India. To date only a few Australian companies have decided on ventures in India, but a y+a package of incentives including cash, tax breaks, a 25 per cent investment allowance and concessional rates of duty for new / materials starting at 15 per cent (as compared to normal duty of 150 per cent!) has been designed to lure Australian money.

Radio .77 As India's technical and manufacturing a abilities become more sophisticated, so too 3 does the country's 3000 -strong amateur radio community. VU2RJI, Ranjiv, for instance, was the first AMTOR operator in the country when his 'amateur teletype over radio' signals began from Madras. Equally impressive is the modern set-up of VU2RX, Vasant and VU2XYL, Usha who ELECTRONIC INDIA

Lanka is less than 200 enthusiasts.) The majority of amateurs who don't have their own equipment have joined radio ii clubs. Currently there are some 60 clubs ranging from tiny groups with a handful of members such as the club in Goa to several clubs with 80 to 100 enthusiasts as in Bombay or Delhi. One of the largest clubs in India is the massive Madras Amateur Radio Society with its 400 plus members, half of whom are licensed amateurs. Amateurs in Madras like all other shortwave hobbyists in the country have under- gone training either through club classes or by home study and then examination at one of the 19 monitoring stations of the Wireless I Planning and Co-ordination Wing - Under simulated emergency conditions the of the Ministry of Communications. Exams Bangalore Amateur Radio Club earlier this year conducted a week long field exhibition to demonstrate amateur radio for the three different types of amateur radio activities to scouts at the World Scout Jamboree. licence are held monthly in Delhi, Bombay, during the Bhopal disaster in Calcutta and Madras and four 1984. Setting currently has about 1000 members. The to six times up eight stations to aid the civil a year at the smaller regional wireless authorities NIAR has a small number of paid staff (the in relief work, the party handled official only amateur radio monitoring stations. messages as well organization in the The theory as welfare queries from country with paid staff) who portion of the essay/multiple parents, relatives conduct choice type of and friends. classes, organize seminars and exam consists of questions Emergencies don't displays and from general radio always involve so produce amateur-related publications. theory, international and many people or grab Indian regulations and so many global With some 2000 operating proce- headlines, however. Such was members across India dures. A pass of 60 the case in and about 60 per cent and a Morse late June when VU2VSN, affiliated clubs, the Federation code speed of 12 Subramanyam in of Amateur words per minute is Bellary and VU2RBI, Radio Societies of India is the required for the Advanced Bharathi in largest hobby radio Amateur Li- Hyderabad were tuning their association in the cence. Fifty per cent and 12 wpm is required receivers country. FARSI members across the 7 MHz, 40 metre band and heard receive the for the Grade I Licence and 50 per cent and country's only amateur magazine a faint distress call transmitted from the which for 5 wpm for the novice -like Grade 2 Licence. many years has been ship "Yathi" in the Andaman Sea off Port voluntarily edited by Even if the Morse test is failed on this Blair. businessman Chauhan, VU2MV. exam, an Radio operator HP3YM/MM, Bruce They individual can apply for a Grade was have government representation on 2 seeking help. Co-ordinating communi- issues Restricted Licence which permits voice - ranging from duty concessions only cation activities, Bharathi contacted the and mobile use and a maximum of 5 watts on 144 licences and use of another QSL MHz. State Chief Secretary, the Relief Com- bureau. mission and other Through affiliated clubs they have access to officials including moni- educational Two metres toring stations of the Ministry of material including locally pro- Commun- duced Morse code The 144-146 MHz (2 metre band) is ications. A communications cassettes and an introd- network com- uctory book to becoming increasingly popular particularly prising other amateur stations was amateur radio. in estab- New Delhi (where one repeater is lished and maintained until the vessel Headed by FARSI President, Mali, was VU2DZ, operational), Madras with its 30 or so hams located and secured by naval authorities. the 20 year old organization hopes on to the band and Bombay where 145.5 MHz Amateur bodies achieve several goals over the next few is a popular simplex frequency for the years: the setting up of a city's ARSI is the internationally recognized nationwide estimated seventy 2 metre users. body microwave link for an emergency (During which liaises with the Geneva -based com- unusual band conditions in Bombay's hot Inter- munication network using existing national Amateur Radio Union. It operates micro- summer season it's not uncommon for low wave and TV towers; faster issue a QSL Bureau, holds second Sunday of the of power 2 metre stations to span the Arabian licences; the introduction of amateur radio Gulf month get-togethers at its Delhi Flying in the and contact other VHF hams in Club educational curriculum; the manufac- Muscat and headquarters, and maintains a train- ture of Dubai.) ing program. an all -band, all -mode HF Indian Part of the But with about 400 members transceiver for reason for the surge of interest it is the around Rs 3000 and a single in 2 metres in major smallest of the three national band centres has been a rise organizations. SSB/CW transceiver for around Rs in urban income which has allowed 100 by one of the State-owned pur- In March 1985 the National Institute electronic chase of hand-held VHF units (at a cost of of agencies. around Amateur Radio in Hyderabad received the $300). Another reason for the Malsi also feels that India's increasing band's first instalment of an approximate $1.2 popularity is equipment portability, million technical sophistication can further assist for mobility is the grant in aid for the development of the key during times of need. all aspects amateur community. "The piggy back Indian hams have been of amateur radio in India. launch of an frequently called Headquartered amateur -built satellite pos- upon to provide relief in Hyderabad in the itioned over the communications. cyclone-prone State of Andhra subcontinent," said the Several years ago a field team of Pradesh, the energetic amateur from VU2 NIAR has been responsible for Madras, "would not volunteers operated battery and generator the training only provide reliable of over 500 amateurs, many of whom communications from powered equipment to link flood -stricken have the Middle East to Singapore Morvi, in turn provided relief using portable Gujarat with Rajkot, Ahmedabad, communications and low powered equipment Baroda during disasters which strike the but it would and Bombay. State's demonstrate to the electronics, More recently lengthy coastline. A program to train commun- a veteran pilot (VU2AID) ications and ham world that India is and 11 teachers who conduct amateur radio already other amateurs played a major role courses willing and able to accept the has been implemented by the NIAR challenges and which promises of the 21st century". 70 - ETI December 1986 Compact discs and spacious sound from Bose® You've seen all the claims about compact discs, now it's time to put them to the test. Go into your local Bose dealer and listen to a compact disc played through a Bose Direct/Reflecting° Speaker System. Only Bose speakers produce a combination of reflected and direct sound, similar to what you hear at a live concert. They create an imaginary concert stage which recreates the spacious, lifelike performance captured by these new compact discs. So go into your local Bose dealer, and judge for yourself. Reading may be believing, but listening is proof.

_8.51LL-7Better sound through research. Bose Australia Inc. 1022 11 Muriel Ave., Rydalmere N.S.W. 2116 Tel: (02) 684

Special !áanuary Compendium Issue El t ics I d yi Yearbook pages to edition of ETI will be a yearbook containing over 160 The January 11 chapters inform the electronics community. It will be divided into entertain and components; on subjects of importance in electronics including CAD; technology; fibre optics; instruments; satellites; data semiconductors; hi-fi; plus listings of communications; computer software; pcb shops; rf reviews; ETI kits and who stocks them.

your field This year book will be your guide to what's happening in h,of electronics and will provide handy lists of suppliers. AUSTRALIA'S DYNAMIC ELECTRONICS MONTHLY! ETI December 1986 - 71 COMMUNICATIONS TODAY

SIGNALLING AFRICAN HISTORY

Throughout the 1960s maps of the African continent were redrawn and relabelled. The shaking off of colonial rule engendered a spirit of native nationalism seen in the adoption of African language names for the newly independent countries. Verification cards from the period document these changes and make good historical references.

Arthur Cushen I1

1. c R eAi i: (+n.. :.L.n$,z f,br,1 IT SEEMS THE philosophy of most newly independent countries is to make their .o.,,a rcar...e+.. o.y...,r r...,,.,. views known to the world by installing a .a.,ro :+Oat. ..,._...... b... .1.<.1 powerful shortwave service. Or so it seems in Africa where almost all the new states .. 9.p1], . operate on shortwave. +4-141 ,,ti,. Newcomers such as ... ° The Ivory Coast, k Uganda and Gabon havé Ir ., r 7.r an international ,»cnr -...._' 1 service, while the so-called 71 e. r . , I regional stations for internal reception offer i. ,,.re.1..1gc'he the shortwave listener IA.,.> -51.41 the chance to hear . e 'icor* .y. 11..1 many new countries. : .r ^ In volatile Africa new countries have +.SLo G.u.1444, P.. appeared, some have been absorbed, while O * others have changed their names, all in the ' recent past. Gone are countries such as Belgium Congo, Abyssinia, Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Bechuanaland and '' _aaua the like. 1E1 ro;ww Algiers, the site of operations of the Voice of America in 1945, later became known as 114»1r Algeria, while Portuguese Angola disap- . 1.44 peared on 11 November 1975 to be replaced by the People's Republic of Angola. Abyssinia, now Ethiopia, was first noted in 1958 as the Voice Ethiopia, and then heard yTlti widely when ETLF operated from the area sá until the station was nationalized in 1974. The Belgium Congo (which eventually became Zaire) was the centre of much radio } activity during the war. OTC operated during the 1940s, then Radio Congo Belge to 29 June 1960, when the country gained independence. Leopoldville, the capital, became Kinshasa and during the early 1960s after the revolt in Katanga a new breakaway country could be heard. Bechuanaland, famous for its station at Verification cards from Angola trace the Mafeking on 5900 kHz using 200 days of private radio stations in the 1940s when they were watts, operated mainly by Radio Clubs. 72 - ETI December 1986 became Botswana in 1966. Basutoland, Madagascar in 1968 changed its name to another small country in Southern Africa, Malagasy Republic but reverted to its was renamed Lesotho in October, 1966. original name in December 1975. Across the Congo River from Belgium Nigeria was heard operating an exper- rftfl' Congo was the French territory and site of imental station under British Colonial rule tstuttk ta111.4 General De Gaulle Free French Radio at in 1950 with a power of 300 W. Later it Brazzaville. In a verification letter from the became the Federal Republic of Nigeria. station it was reported that General De Rhodesia at first retained its colonial Gaulle selected two professional name even after Northern Rhodesia and newspapermen and ordered them to create Nyasaland adopted their new names, but in Radio Brazzaville Broadcasting Station. 1979 Rhodesia changed to Zimbabwe. I Brazzaville coiitmenced operation on 5 Until 30 June 1962 Rwanda-Urundi was a NIpI d '^ December 1940 as Free French Radio, and united country but now both parties are V'fTOp. operated on 11970 kHz with 5 kW. On 27 independent countries. South West Africa 'ILI. November 1958 the station became Congo has become Namibia. People's Republic. The three Somalilands have had interesting changes of government. French The Cameroons previously under British 4 ,T rule changed on 11 February 1961 to the Somaliland is now Djibouti, while British United Republic of Cameroons. The Somaliland and Italian Somaliland became French province, Dahomey, too emerged a the Democratic Republic of Somalia on 30 new country and has been known as Benin June 1960. Hargeisa Radio (British i since 30 November 1975, while the former Somaliland), heard in 1947, first opened in French Somaliland became Affars and Issas 1942 at Harar, Abyssinia and later in- and then, on 26 June 1977, Djibouti. creased power from 200 W to 600 W. On being taken over by the Britain's interest in Egypt is well known Government, power was increased to 1000 W. and many broadcasting stations operated in Italian Somaliland, broadcasting from the area during World War II. Stations such the capital Mogadishu, was 1952 vocºaw bCr.irn as SUX operated by the Psychological heard in on 7420 kHz a.ió L. with W, now both Q. `. Warfare Branch in 1945 were frequently 300 and stations are incorporated the heard. SUX later moved to Palestine as under Somalia broadcast- JCKW near Jerusalem, while another ing organization. Tanganyika later became Tanzania when station JCJC, whose location could not be ~ iOL, that country and the Island of Zanzibar disclosed according to a verification card in (, w \, 12, Y. Ul' l V 1944, used 7840 kHz. were united to form Tanzania on 25 April 1964. At Gold Coast was frequently heard after its the extreme southern tip, the initial broadcast, and our verification from Union of South Africa became the Republic of South Africa on 30 May 1961. Accra was received in 1941 when the station This information has been collated from carried Free French broadcasts. By 1948 the verification cards and letters Panama is a country no longer operating on station had the call ZOY on 4915 kHz. The confirming reception from stations over this period. In shortwave but in the late 1930s it had many relays of country's new name, Ghana, was first used mediumwave stations on shortwave. itself this forms an excellent picture of the from 5 March 1957. changing pattern of history in Africa. It Kenya is one country that has retained its ment has often put a new emphasis on how essential documents British name. Broadcasts from Nairobi shows such as shortwave broadcasting. In the 1930s these can be in preserving the radio history were operated by Cable & Wireless Ltd on almost all stations in Latin America were of broadcasting in Africa. The coverage of station VQ7LO. A 1940 verification privately owned and operated. Fifty years countries is by no means complete but it confirms reception with this call sign. Today ago Panama had many shortwave stations; includes those which are heard widely and stations are operated by a government today there are none. Cuba had many present an interesting change in the political agency, under the slogan "Voice of Kenya". commercial stations, but since the Castro history and growth the dark continent. Libya operated several Forces stations for of regime they have all been nationalized. the British Army and, in fact, a verification Throughout South America, government - in July 1953 stated "...your reception Other minor changes operated Radio Nacional stations have [which] causes no end of stir on the station When we look at the rest of the world we appeared in Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, here. It is now mentioned casually in all our find around Asia the map has changed. Columbia, Venezuela and Paraguay. There bar conversation...". These broadcasts orig- Gone are French Indo-China, Goa, have been many changes in the Caribbean inated from Tripoli, and used 250 W on Manchukuo, Chosen, Palestine, Persia and as colonies have gained independence but 4780 kHz. Today the country is known as many more names. this mainly affects mediumwave broadcast- Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Our near neighbours in the Pacific have ing. Morocco,' once a French colony, also changed, with the New Hebrides, Gilbert Archives material of things that hap- included the International Zone of and Ellice Islands, Formosa, Dutch East pened over the past 60 years is now being Tangiers, the site of many commercial Indies changing their names or becoming collected. Listeners are becoming aware of stations until 29 October 1956 when it was independent in the past 40 years. The the value of retaining any historic material incorporated into Morocco. Later Morocco Philippines' change of status meant that call for deposit with a museum or Radio incorporated Spanish Morocco. sign changes were made from KZRM to Archives Group for future use. Malawi came into existence in 1964 when DZRM, losing the American prefixes. the Broadcasting Corporation was formed In the Americas things have been more from the old Federal Broadcasting Corpor- stable, although Dutch and British Guiana ation then part of Northern Rhodesia. have changed names. Change of govern - ETI December 1986 - 73 NEW PRODUCTS

5110WI ..,....do, , ~Om ./...,..,,....»- . . . ®04 '

sounds different from the real create a unit that will put Yamaha DSP-i thing. Why? The real thing has ambience back in. Using its ambience, that is, the sound considerable VLSI design ex- About 20 years ago, engineers at the British audio company you hear in a concert hall is a perience, it has integrated QED claimed it was impossible to tell QED's amplifiers from function not only of the instru- sufficient circuits to be able to those Judged to be the best In the world. They carried out their ment and your ear, but also ask the to take the pure test and proved their point. unit the surroundings in which you input from a CD player, and The argument runs like this. mains hum and so on. and the instrument are inter- add reflections to It. For about the last 20 years, it Most modern amplifiers can acting. The DSP-1 creates early re- has been possible to build be connected up with almost Sound comes to you In a verberations of the floor amplifiers with vanishingly total disregard for hum prob- straight line; it also bounces 50-80 ms before the direct small amounts of distortion, lems. With the advent of the off walls, the floor, carpets, the noise hits you. it decays it say 0.001 or 0.002%. But the Compact disc, distortion at roof, the people around you, away in a sequence of mul- human ear can't hear distor- the front end has disap- everything, in fact. Every tiple reflections. What's more tion less than about 1%. So peared. We are, In fact, ap- reflection generates a it does this In 16 different QED's argument was that if proaching audio perfection, different path to your ear; patterns according to the you can't hear the distortion, limited only by the imperfec- every one an echo of the most popular types of listen- you can't hear any sound tions of the speakers. original sound. ing environments. As well, the generated by the amplifier. So So where does hi -fl go from The sum total of all these unit possesses user control the amplifier doesn't contrib- here? One possibility for the echoes is ambience, a kind of over room size, liveness, ute anything to the process. future was revealed at this smoothed out blur of jumbled reverb time and so on. QED. year's summer Consumer frequencies your brain de- The question, of course, is Of course, there are good Electronics Show (CES). It was codes as an instrument whether It works or is a gim- systems and bad systems as the Yamaha DSP-1, a digital played in a specific type of mick. ETI will be running a we all know. But the things that sound processor, and It has room. review early In the new year to 'colour' a hi -11 system are by Just been released in Austra- None of this happens when let you know, but preliminary and large the distortion in the lia. you listen to a hi -1 In your hearing tests at Yamaha's pick-up and speakers (maybe As anyone knows, for lounge room. That's the place say it's the greatest several%), and peculiarities reasons that have nothing to difference. thing since sliced bread. Look of individual rigs in terms of do with distortion, a h1-11 set Now Yamaha has tried to out for it.

New Beeb U Barson Computers has re- "the user will find everything leased the BBC Compact he is ever likely to need right computer from the UK. Barson in the box". is hoping the Compact will Since Barson claims the emulate the success of the Compact is 100% compatible BBC model B, which has been with software written for its widely used by education earlier products, it Is ex- authorities in Australia and pected that the huge edu- New Zealand. cational software library that Instead of going to 16 -bit has been built up around BBC megachips, BBC has adopted machines will be a major a philosophy of tailoring the selling point. Compact to the audience It The price of $1332 includes knows and understands. As a 128K of RAM, a 640K 3.5 or result, the BBC does not ap- 5.25 inch floppy drive, mouse, pear particularly well printer interface and all the .. configured from a hardware software. Barson also says that rrtrys,.t.,,. . point of view. a low cost version ($970) is However, it comes with available for networking with Logo, BASIC, a word proces- the Econet interface, a locally sor, a spreadsheet, network- designed product especially ing, music and colour built to allow optimum use of graphics capacity built in. The earlier model Beebs in school e company blurb sheet advises: LANs. Scott Brownell of Berson: The BBC compact has it all. 74 - ETI December 1986 Data logger Data Electronics of Melbourne has sent us some publicity on Its highly successful data logger called the Datataker. - According to the company, It's now In service In 18 countries. Included In the list of customers is the West German military, the Danish Atomic Energy Commission, the Swedish Bureau of Standards, General Motors, Volvo and NASA. The Datataker is fully programmable with all Its software in ROM. It has 24K of memory, 54 channels, both analogue and digital inputs and outputs, a real time clock, and the ability to do a reasonable amount of math- ematical manipulation on the perimental passively cooled Melbourne headquarters company is using 30 of them data before It's sent down the rural exchange buildings. The every 10 days, where it is used for monitoring environmental line. It can be used to aver- Datataker Is used to measure to prepare a graph of the quality at mines in Utah and age results, calculate poly- the temperature of the ther- building's performance. New Mexico. Vulcan Australia nomials or do thermocouple mocouples every two min- At the Subaru technical Is using them as part of its linearization. utes, and compute a half centre In the US, Datatakers prototype testing procedures. Some of the applications hourly average. The contents are being used to test auto- For more information, con- include monitoring the tem- of the datalogger Is then motive exhaust components. tact Data Electric on (03) perature inside Telecom's ex- downloaded to an IBM PC in The giant Kennecott mining 222-3241

Laser disc moves Pioneer continues as the only 2 is the level at which the unit company significantly sup- would function as a demon- porting video disc tech- stration or training tool. nology. It has released some Level 3 is a more sophisti- new product in the form of the cated version of level 2, In first 8 -Inch portable video disc which the program Is stored In . player, and continues to sup- a separate computer. The port the disc in interactive computer then uses a port on training and entertainment the back of the unit to talk to uses. V3000. All the functions avail- The new product, hot out able on the remote control, as from the US, is the LDV3000. It well as some specialist es- is designed to play 8 -inch cape codes, are available NTSC standard discs and from the port. comes with a 100 Vac power The advantage of level 3 is source. Users will have to that the program may be supply both a special NTSC made as long and as com- set and transformer (available plex as required. Presumably from Pioneer) until a local PAL In most operations where a version Is generated. high degree of user friendli- The Pioneer LD-V3000. A new small portable video disc player The LDV3000 can be oper- ness is required, the unit ated In three different ways. would operate as level 3. magnetic resonance. Another use being pushed Level 1 uses a remote control The V3000 will sell for a Computer systems used in by Pioneer is in computer unit to achieve normal func- surprisingly low $1200 exclud- the medical field have be- literacy. Advanced Systems of tion under the direct control of ing tax. come important recorders of Australia, a Sydney -based the operator. In Level 2 It can Meanwhile Pioneer is also Information. They typically re- firm, has just started using be controlled by a program anxious to push some of the cord all kinds of symptoms of video disc to train Its staff In actually on the disc. In this discs it has made itself to the various diseases. With the the use of computer main- mode the player first reads the advertise the potential of Laserdisc this can be turned frames. program on the disc and video disc. The discs cover Into a visual data base as Enquiries to Graham Ham on loads It Into Internal RAM. The five fields of medical imaging: well, so that doctors can see (03) 580-9911 abut the V3000 unit then functions under the X-ray, nuclear, ultrasonic, what various conditions look or any of the other develop- control of this program. Level endoscoplc and nuclear like. ments In Laserdisc. ETI December 1986 - 75 VOOD FOR CHIPS ... WOOD FOR CHIPS ... WOOD FOR CHIPS ... WOOD FOR CHIPS ... WOOD FOR CHIPS ... WOOD FOR CHIPS ... WOOD FOR C

!7 20MHz SCOPE WITH ALTERNATE TRIGGERING The GOS-522 is an Ideal general purpose scope which we've selected because of its excellent triggering functions. Two channels with big 150mm (6") screen and internal $ 732 EX Tax graticule. Fast 2Ons/div sweep speed for high precision. Features alternate triggering mode to ensure stable display of both channels - saves a lot of knob twiddling!! Trigger circuit is $855 inc tax U dc coupled too for low frequency signals. Trigger level lock and variable hold -off all add Compact and easy to operate to ease of use. Auto, normal and O single shot for sweep modes. Call in for a demo, you will be hobbyists and professionals O delighted with the performance and the price - GOS-522 $855 Inc tax ($732 ex tax) and that ADJUSTABLE VOLTAGE & OPEN FRAME LOW 3 includes FREE PROBES and a 12month warranty. CURRENT REGULATOR PROFILE IC SOCKETS L200C O CHECK TRANSISTORS, Handles output currents up to 2A and O CAPACITORS AND voltages in the range 32V down to 2.85V. Thermal overload and short circuit e ?lye E,o CURRENT TO 10A protected. Input over -voltage protected to 60V. Only $3.50. One multimeter does the lot - Vdc from 200mV 1(1f©©1' to 1000V, Vac from 200mV to 750V, Adc from 200uA to 10A, Aac from 20mA to 10A, Ohms d,...1' Y51 from 200ohm to 20Megs, Diodes, Continuity beeper, Capacitance from 2nF to 20uF. Plus A1 measure hFE for PNP and NPN transisitors L 200 Highest quality glass filled polyester with from 0 to 1000. Single rotary dial for MACHINED contacts. Four finger GOLD unambiguous range selection. Auto -polarity PLATED contact. Terminals are tin plated for 31 digit display. Bright yellow case so you easy soldering. Open frame ensures good won't lose it! EDM1111A $118.88 Inc. tax cooling, easy cleaning and checking. ($103.03 ex tax). Available in 8 to 40 pin configurations. 8 pin 56C, 14 pin 98c, 16 r Y !.lt, 2 in 51.12, 18 pin 51.26, 20 pin 51.40, 24 pin $1.68, 28 pin 51.96, Programmable voltage regulator with - 40 pin 52.80. current limiting

5V POWERED DUAL RS232 SNORT .o, TRANSMITTER/RECEIVER CONTACT

MAX232 NO SOLDER w,Cw,,,G CIG,SG {p0 Tt,.rwl,...l Yes it meets all RS232C specs but only OR vK OP INTOTO w. needs a 5V supply because it has built-in converters for the +10V and -10V power SINGLE IN -LINE supplies. Can also be used as a voltage quadrupler for input voltages up to 5.5V. SOCKETS & ADAPTORS Also contains 2 drivers and receivers. Uses . low power CMOS. Handles 30V input levels CO and provides a +9V output swing. Ideal for battery powered systems. $12.96 lllll1 ,

.µry..p ct .auu NSW. O HANDY SIP sockets feature four finger GOLD PLATED beryllium copper contacts with tin O POCKET MULTIMETER plated brass terminals. 20 pin strip can be O easily snapped apart to form shorter lengths. Measures only 126mm x 70mm x 24mm yet Maintains spacing when mounted end to end 2 incorporates full 3% digit multlmeter including or end to side. Socket Strip S2.00 a continuity buzzer. Single rotary switch for fast Adaptor Strip 52.50 convenient operation. Checks diodes too. Measures Vdc from 200mV to 1000V, Vac 200 w0.., and 750V, Adc from 200uA to 2A, Ohmsfrom . ,Ntf 200ohm to 2Meg. Special 1.5V battery test TALK TO GEOFF range with 1mV resolution and a continuity range which beeps when resistance is below ABOUT YOUR 1n^ohm. Bright yellow case so you can't mislay it!! EDM-70B $64.40 inc. tax ($55.52 ex tax). INSTRUMENT NEEDS

8.30 to 5 Monday to Friday, 8.30 to 12 Sat. Mail Orders add 55.00 to cover postal charges. GEOFF WOOD ELECTRONICS P/L INC IN NSW All prices INCLUDE sales tax. (02) 4271676 Tax exemption certificates accepted if line value 229 BURNS BAY RD. TWX 71996 exceeds 510.00. (CORNER BEATRICE ST.) P.O. BOX 671 LANE COVE WEST N.S.W. LANE COVE N.S.W. 2066 BANKCARD, MASTERCARD, VISA, CHEQUES OR CASH CHEERFULLY ACCEPTED specialising in electronic components for the professional and hobbyist. NEW PRODUCTS

JRC releases Y.' ism NJL-904 FREQUENCY COUNTER/MARKER JRC has released a number of . new products In Australia f,AR i-7 Its 0 I-1 ll 11 1-1 i'1 t`r through agents Associated t i-1 I_I i'1 I'! fJ LI LI 1_I _I LI 1 1_I Calibration Laboratories. They L U. 1_f Include a counter, a graphics terminal, and RF power meter - -- tA (XV MN - and a photo printer. MARKER The Model NJL-900 is a rti 'Lriov microprocessor controlled frequency counter. It has 12 1 digits and measures frequen- STANDBY cies from 10 Hz through to POWER 18 GHz. Not only will It do ow frequency measurement, It also displays parts per million and generates a marker frequency anywhere In its range. It's also GPIB programmable. ACL is also handling a range of graphics terminals from JRC. The first of these is the 1PS-100. It features a screen resolution of 1024 x

780 pixels with 896K of S11923 internal RAM and 256K of ROM. It has a 10M hard disk and a 1.2M floppy integrated 10 to 18 billion: a high performance frequency counter from JRC. into it and talks to the rest of The power meter is the power sensor. display. The unit uses a fiat the world via RS232 or NJL70W, which operates in the A rather more novel product colour CRT and an RGB colour- Centronics ports. Other ter- range from 10 MHz up to Is the video -to -colour photo - ing process to produce copy minals are available with up 26.5 GHz. It can measure from printer called the Vldeofx 85. in just 20 seconds. to 32K by 32K pixels of screen -70 dBm up to +20 dBm in It Is designed to reproduce For further enquiries contact memory. conjunction with an NJL71 still pictures from a video ACL on (03) 842-8822.

Combustion analyser Novatech has Just released details of Its new model 1431 combustion analyser. It Is designed to measure oxygen levels In non -habitable environments like the inside of boilers, flues, kilns and fur- naces. The device is built to withstand 1400°C. There is a local Indication of oxygen level via an indicator on the front panel. One other parameter can also be selected. However, If the unit cannot be seen, there is provision for getting the Information out via relay contacts which can be used to signal alarm conditions to some remote site. The analyser can be used with heated or unheated L The Novatech alarm. The box will protect It up to 1400°C. zlrconia oxygen probes. It provides automatic on-line The 1431 has an internal Instrument Is processor - Novatech In Melbourne gas calibration of the probe keyboard for selecting the controlled and can be prog- around a CSIRO oxygen and filter purging. It also does output range and so on, as rammed directly at its key- sensor. For further information a self calibration routine well as maintenance and board. contact Novatech on (03) every two seconds. commissioning functions. The It was designed and built by 645-2377 or (02) 758-1122. ETI December 1986 - 77 NEW PRODUCTS 1

2246 too m+1? t)Sr:ItioSCUPf

fiQie, ,PK Pw 0.34 U More Tek CROs - - -r-- Tektronix has announced two new oscilloscopes, the 2245 and 2246. Both feature a four -channel, 100 MHz configuration. Sensi- tivity is claimed to be 2 mV with 2% vertical and horizontal accuracy. The 2246 offers pushbutton measurement capability and cursors. Both have auto -level trigger, providing automatic triggering of any signal with sensitivity . to 0.25 div at

50 MHz . and 0.5 div at 100 MHz. A 10:1 hold-off range provides excellent triggering on complex waveforms. 7 For further information phone (02) 888-2066.

produce seven pure colours, with mechanical registration Colour electrostatic plotters which can be mixed to pro- processes and provides 0.1% duce 1024 hues and shades. vertical and horizontal accu- Datamatic recently an- representation and a crisp For a full -colour drawing, a racy. nounced a family of three image. plot must make four passes The plotters use vector -to - multi -pass colour electro- The 5800 plotters are non- over the image head, one raster data conversion. They static plotters from Caicomp impact Imaging devices. They pass for each colour. A mono- accept random vector data that feature a palette of 1024 use an electronic charge de- chrome plot can be com- via an on-line interface from colours, 400 -dot -per -Inch res- posited on specially treated pleted with a single pass. the host computer or via mag- olution, integrated vector -to- dielectric media, Including Single pass paper speeds in- netic tape input. Then they raster conversion and elec- paper and film. The media is clude 0.7 inches per second convert the data and output tronic registration. then exposed to a liquid (ips) for model 5825, 0.5 ips colour raster plots. The vector- The 5800 Series contains toner, which Is attracted to the for model 5835 and 0.4 ips for to -raster data conversion and three models; the 5825, 5835 electronic charges or dots on model 5845. integrated colour separation and 5845. The models accom- the media, producing per- Registration marks are activities reduce the process- modate media widths of 24, manent visible text or Images. drawn with the first colour ing burden to the host com- 36 and 44 inches respect- There are four separate pass. For maximum accuracy, puter. ively, and can generate plots toner stations. Each station the plot is electronically regis- For more information con- up to 500 feet long. They all contains a different colour; tered during the next three tact Datamatic on (02) feature 400 -dot -per -Inch res- cyan, magenta, yellow and passes. This eliminates the 888-1788. olution for continuous colour black. Together, these colours integrity problems associated

LED brake A report in Electronics (18 strafed an LED tail -light on its bundled together in packs of Incandescent bulbs would be September 1986) suggests SFXB experimental car at. the about 50. Although initially immune to anything but a that new model cars may Tokyo car show last year. It's expensive, the volumes redirect hit. They would also soon be equipped with LED not clear when they will arrive quired (apparently about afford a great deal of brake lights. The emergence in Australia. equal to the total existing LED flexibility for designers in of LEDs with about 10 times the Bright LEDs are made from market) would drive prices terms of shape and layout. efficiency of normal LEDs is aluminium gallium arsenide through the floor in the long There could also be a cost making the car Industry sit up (AIGaAs). Normal LEDs deliver term. advantage. However, many and take notice. about 1.5 lumens/ampere The advantages of going to of the practicalities of 'manu- The Japanese will be the first (L/A), but the new devices LEDs are several. They have a facturing extremely large vol- to bring the technology onto can hit 15-20 L/A. To form a life expectancy longer than umes very cheaply have yet the market. Toyota demon - usable unit, they need to be that of the car, and unlike to be Ironed out. 78 - ETI December 1986 fi

Sprague resistor PROF'ESSIO - . n networks COMPUTERI D Penn Central has announced pacltor networks, RC net- the release of a family of works, translators and R/2R surface -mounted resistor net- networks. Penn Central has SECURITY KIT works from Sprague. The 834 is also announced the release a 14 -pin package, the 836 a of the type 678D miniature 16 -pin. Resistances span aluminium electrolytic ca- 22 ohms up to 1 meg. Various pacitor. Available In either designs are available, includ- 10 mm or 18 mm configura- ing pull up/down, theverin tions, they are claimed to terminators and Interface net- have exceptional CV pro- works. ducts. Apparently, Sprague in- For further details contact tends - Mark 648-1661. to release similar ca Riley on (02) uR % eere` . eñiSrá ñt . ió ME f \ S a.eé. ir ea.áé ié 1 = s ^ iéñéW i ..1,¡iaéS`il,F, '' í\ I '

_11.;;11.

o r. ll The Philips PM3296: look Ma, no handst Philips releases Philips has released a number chambers where there is a of new instruments this month. desire to separate the oper- A compact, low distortion os- ator from the CRO. According cillator called the PM5110 to Philips publicity It's also Deluxe kit illustrated. was one of them. It uses RC useful when the operator Is techniques to generate a sine stuck half way up an equip- 2 Kits available-Standard or Deluxe. 4 sector wave with only 0.03% distor- ment rack and wants to leave Control with switch selection of its many pre- tion between 300 Hz and the instrument on the floor. 20 kHz. It can generate both The PM5192 has been intro- programmed functions. Quality components for sine and square waves be- duced as a low cost fully reliability. Comprehensive instructions included. tween 10 Hz and 100 kHz. programmable 10 kHz to Maximum output Is 6 V. 20 MHz frequency synthesiser. A TV -style remote control It's designed for both individ- Literature, prices and further information available from: oscilloscope called the ual and systems operation PM3296 was another of the with an IEEE488 bus Interface 15-17 Normanby Rd, Clayton, Vic, 3149 releases. It's based on the and 19 -Inch rackmount . Tel (03)5448411. Telex AÁ35780 highly successful PM3295. The configuration. It Is claimed to 248 Johnston Annandale, NSW, 2038 350 MHz CRO is specifically offer eight figure accuracy St, designed for operation in hos- and long term stability. Tel (02) 6920999 tile places like environmental 31 Phillips St, Thebarton, SA, 5031 I.E.I..(Aust) Pty. Ltd. Tel (08)3522066 NEW PRODUCTS

dn Local clones 1 4'. r ,. I. - 4 N .4 Melbourne Datatel, Is based, . . >r ;., fi ' now assembling what it de- , " :, :: , :ml scribes as IBM-compatible . personal computers at Its Mel- bourne headquarters. The company buys its components overseas to bring back and assemble into its DPC-88 and DAT-286 PCs, taking en- couragement from the government's attempts to promote manufacturing In this country. The Datatel DPC-88 is a fast turbo XT unit which provides an increase of almost 40% in the speed of program execution over the normal PC - XT. Standard configuration of the DPC-88 includes 256K RAM, an 8 MHz 8088 microprocessor, dual slimline 360 KB disk drives, colour graphics u card, parallel printer port, 150 W power supply, en- nr..áLt_.1'12--, ,r. 1_rt.,a :J't. Mt./ i.rc_ 'r - 1 hanced 5151 style keyboard HIt ii r Ii ' W411, 111,,E1 I; 2111 .11 controller to support four 411 13--,0 r f d, 1111 i I,1T W'.L. fCi 111152 . ROW floppy disk drives with rear w 01, 6i0, riam me tie xn 'II panel connector, security 1 lock and flip top cabinet. 11811111U Cam The.Datatel DAT-286 Is an AT - compatible having a standard configuration of 512K RAM, 80286-10 microprocessor, single slimilne 1.2MB disk style keyboard, security lock, and enhanced graphics Prices are from $1316 plus drive, 20MB hard disk, high and slide -top cabinet. adaptors. According to tax for the DPC-88 and from resolution colour graphics Both units are supplied with Datatel, any of the hundreds $4283 plus tax for the DPC- card, parallel printer port, and MS-DOS 3.1. Other options In- of expansion boards avail- 286. 200 W power supply. It has clude hard disks, tape able for the IBM PC/XT/AT can For further Information con- dual floppy disk and hard disk streamers, RAM expansion be expected to perform cor- tact Datatel on (03) 690-4000 controller, enhanced 5151 boards, multi -function cards rectly In these units. or (02) 439-4211.

Spherical sound

Audio Telex Is importing an sion pattern and good unusual sound system into the efficiency are Important cri- country from the US. It's called teria. the Soundsphere, and is pro- The claimed dispersion is duced by Conic Systems of 360 degrees in a horizontal Stamford. plane and 270 vertically. The manufacturer claims Company publicity indicates 200 W capacity, a frequency that they are preferentially response from 40 Hz to 20 kHz hung from the ceiling in the and a maximum sound level middle of factories, shopping of 120 dB. They are specifi- malls and the like. cally designed for large For further enquiries phone spaces where a wide disper- Audio Telex on (02) 633-4344.

Round sound: the sound sphere. eak

PA6

..-....-,.,- PC CAD Pg Hewlett-Packard has got Into the low cost CAD act at last with a package called PC CAD based on Its recently Introduced Vectra PC. Actu- ally, at $35k It's not really cheap, but compared with what HP has been offering up to now It's low -end stuff. The package ties the Vectra into a new plotter called the HP 7570 Draftpro. At $1 lk It's a down-market derivative of the more expensive plotters HP has been building up to now. The Draftpro uses the same type of technology as earlier HP offerings. The paper is positioned by two grit wheels that make It possible to move the paper back and forth with extreme accuracy. This then becomes the vertical movement axis. Horizontal movement is provided by the pen arm Itself which Is attached to a bar running across the top of O the printer. The advantage of doing I aoFfrT wa OURS things this way Is that both ; I { movements have extremely r c.a1 -, low mass, thus little inertia. 4 4101-00UiFA1L IRW S1 This makes it possible to build uruas -IAli a plotter that Is at once fast F and accurate. Under normal conditions there Is a trade off. 1.33059 To make things happen re- SLOPE et? quires some software. The system will run almost any IBM- - compatible software, but HP o recommends only a small 3 cµ2 range, Autocad and Versa - lass cad among them. i HP is hoping that the launch of PC CAD will enable It to get gish. however, with the arrival of The problem for HP might be a slice of the burgeoning CAD The reason is simple cheap IBM-compatible soft- that the price is still too high, market and its market analysis enough: there are plenty of ware in force, it has become at three or four times some of indicates that the CAD market people around who want to possible to put together a its cheaper rivals. HP hopes will grow very rapidly at the use CAD, but don't have the respectable CAD system for that its reputation for cus- bottom end, while the de- work to Justify six -figure sums under $10k. This is a price the tomer support and engineer- mand for high price sophisti- Just to make their drafts- market will wear, a fact ing excellence will lure the cated CAD will remain slug - men happy. In the last year, reflected in demand. public in.

Wave soldering with pin contact in bed -of - baser ,These non -halide acti- nails testing. vators are decomposed and without flux residue Multicore Solders has come volatized by the heat of Wave soldering is the process removed using energy - up with a new flux, the X-32, soldering to leave the board which has made possible low consuming equipment. And which, it claims, avoids these tree of detectable residues cost mass production of elec- this equipment either uses problems because it leaves when it comes off the wave tronic circuitry. But it suffers expensive solvents or creates no residue. Multicore found soldering line. from one irritating problem: problems in effluent disposal. that most of the solid material For further information about after soldering the board is left Even if the residues do not in the flux could be left out the new process phone (02) with residues of the soldering have to be removed they are leaving only small amounts of 667-0244 or (03) 489-0222. flux which often have to be often a nuisance, interfering certain activators In a solvent

ETI December 1986 - 81 SOUND REVIEW BEAT GENERATION Casio RZ-1 Sampling Drum Machine Neale Hancock

One some corrects the drum beats to fit them. For two, sampling to do instance 1/96 allows 96 different locations Three four time and some more for drum beats in the bar, allowing rhythmi- Five six, drum sounds to mix cally proficient percussionists to do their thing. The 1/6, 1/12, 1/24 and 1/48 note Seven eight, patterned or straight sounds (that is, snare, bass, hi -hat, sound lengths allow triplets (three beats in the sample Nine ten, sounds good by then 1, etc). The cluster of buttons just to space of two) to be written into drum the left of the display is used to program the patterns, giving them a liveliness. rhythm patterns into the RZ-I. Rhythm Step time rhythms patterns can be programmed in two Step time programming of the RZ-I is done different ways, in real time and in step time. by manually stepping through the rhythm Real time rhythms pattern and inputting the beats at the COMBINE THE TWO most widely ac- Real time programming of the RZ-1 is required places. The beats are input by cepted forms of music technology, sampling performed by inputting the beats while the pressing the button labelled with the desired and drum machines, and you have the drum machine is running. A particular drum sound at the position where it is RZ-1. Add Casio's sensible pricing, and you drum sound is selected by pressing its required. The number of steps in the have the first affordable sampling drum corresponding front panel button at the rhythm pattern is set using the auto machine. time you want it played in the rhythm compensate function whilst the drum ma- pattern. Alternatively, beats can be input chine is in step time mode. Programming Making rhythms from drum pads or a keyboard via MIDI. the RZ-I with rhythm patterns in step time Too much importance can be placed on the The RZ-I assists in the placement of the is very simple, thanks to a logically laid out sounds generated by a drum machine, and beats with an internal metronome and the front panel and a good selection of single not enough placed on ease of programming, auto -compensate function. The internal function buttons. that is, to the task of actually inputting the metronome helps you to keep time by Play/record, delete, auto -compensate, rhythm patterns to the drum machine. marking four beats in the bar and accentuat- beat selection (eg, 4/4, 3/4 time, etc) and Casio has made programming the RZ-1 ing the first beat. The auto -compensate copying functions are enabled using the very straightforward, thanks to a well laid function corrects any timing mistakes made PATTERN key in conjunction with a key out front panel and easily accessed par- while inputting the drum beats. corresponding to the function. The cluster ameters. The auto -compensate function divides of buttons to the left of the display is used Programming a rhythm pattern into a the musical bar into a number of different to perform these tasks. The delete function drum machine entails the placement of note lengths (namely 1/2, 1/4, 1/6, 1/8, permits whole patterns, parts of patterns as beats in the rhythm pattern with drum 1/12, 1/16, 1/24, 1/32, 1/48 and 1/96) then well as single beats to be erased. The copy

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function enables existing rhythm patterns mum of 99 steps) to be stored. If you exceed cassette deck for instance). There is a to be copied, then modified to create new the internal memory, all the song and common socket for microphone or line patterns. pattern data can be stored on cassette via input, and either source can be selected via the cassette interface. This interface is a switch. There is a slider to control the level Making songs operated via MT, SAVE and LOAD. of the input signal and an LED to indicate After a number of rhythm patterns have Other features of the RZ-1 include a that sampling is being performed. been written, they can be put together to backlit LCD display (to allow the RZ-1 to To sample a sound with the RZ-1 all that create a song. Keys that are used for writing be used in those dingy inner-city pubs!), a is required is to plug in the source, set the rhythm patterns (eg, PLAY/RECORD, DE- 10 -digit keypad as well as increment/ input level and push the two buttons. Hit a LETE, AUTO -COMPENSATE, etc) can be decrement keys for data entry and tempo couple of things together and the resulting used to create songs as well. This is done by control. These features impressed me be- sound will be automatically sampled. One pressing the SONG key instead of the cause they allow the values of the par- or two attemps may be required to get the PATTERN key. Arranging the patterns to ameters to be easily changed. A lot of optimum sample (a sample that is loud form a song is simplicity itself, due to easily companies reduce the number of keys on enough to override any noise but not so accessed parameters and good documen- their drum machines, increasing the loud that it is distorted). It surprises me that tation on the display. difficulty in programming, supposedly in Casio did not include a bar graph display to When the SONG key is pressed, edit/ order to reduce cost. show the input level of the incoming signal. play, delete, insert, chain and copy func- The inclusion of such a display would assist tions arc used to arrange the patterns into Sampling in setting the optimum level for sampling. songs. While none of these functions is The RZ-1 can sample four 0.2 second The sample can have either its low unique, their virtue is in how easy they are samples, two 0.4 second samples or one 0.8 frequencies or high frequencies boosted to access. As their names suggest, the delete second sample. To achieve this flexibility using the tone control knob on the rear and insert functions allow patterns to be the memory is broken up into four blocks, panel. The use of this facility is somewhat inserted in or deleted from a song. Delete or two blocks or not at all. The sampling limited because samples I and 2 share one can also be used to erase whole songs. The rate is 20 kHz, giving a bandwidth of about control, and samples 3 and 4 share the chain function allows different songs to be 10 kHz. Although 8 -bit sampling is used, it other. linked together while copy allows a selected sounds much better, which suggests that I chose to test the sampling ability of the song to be copied exactly into another song. some form of companding is used to give RZ-I with some dynamic sounds contain- The storage capacity of the RZ-1 is quite the drum sounds a greater dynamic range. ing lots of high frequency harmonics, so I impressive, allowing 100 rhythm patterns Sounds can be input into the RZ-1 via a used a range of hammered metal objects and 20 different songs (each with a maxi- microphone or from a line level source (a such as aluminium plates, coffee tins and an ETI December 1986 - 83 SOUND REVIEW

ETI Series 5000 heatsink (I knew there was There are 10 outputs for the samples and OUT can also output a note value for each a good use for it!). To my surprise the the drum sounds, each with a separate of the drum voices, which enables it to drive quality of each of the sampled sounds was volume control. The three toms and the external MIDI sound modules. very good. Using the tone control to boost bass drum each have their own outputs. The The MIDI IN allows the RZ-1 to receive the high frequencies helped achieve a good other sounds are grouped into the following MIDI clock information, enabling it to sounding sample but it also added some sharing arrangements: rimshot with snare, have its tempo set by the MIDI system noise. closed hi -hat with open hi -hat, handclaps master. The MIDI IN also allows rhythm The 0.2 seconds allowed by the RZ-1 for with ride, crash with cowbell. As for the patterns to be programmed into the RZ-1 sampling a sound was not quite long sampled sounds, samples 1 and 2 are from a MIDI keyboard and drum voices to enough to capture it all. For instance, when grouped, as are samples 3 and 4. be manually played from a MIDI keyboard. the sound of a hammered piece of metal was The inclusion of separate outputs is a big The RZ-1 can be remotely started and sampled, the ringing of the metal was cut plus for the RZ-1, as this allows each drum stopped via a footswitch that plugs into the off. However, the shortened metallic sound to be mixed separately, and separate rear panel. This facility is ideal for `live' samples sounded very punchy when used in mixing allows equalization and effects (such situations or when you are recording and a rhythm pattern, therefore they were fine as reverb, echo, phasing, etc) to be used on wish that you had a third hand. The MT for up -tempo songs. individual drum sounds. Taking the sound function that allows playing and voice data from these outputs and equalizing them to be transferred to and from cassette tape is separately can also help rectify their sonic accessed via a rear panel DIN socket. Preset sounds shortcomings. For situations where it is not Overall, I would say that the RZ-1 is good The RZ-1 also has 12 preset drum sounds possible to have separate outputs (not value for money due to its user friendliness - namely, bass, snare, high, mid and low enough mixing desk channels, or no desk at and sampling ability. The quality of the tom-toms, rimshot, open and closed hi - all), the sounds can be internally mixed and preset sounds is a bit of a worry, but the hats, handclaps, cowbell, ride and crash output in mono or stereo. ability to process them separately helps to cymbals. Three levels of dynamics can be counter this. applied to these from the front panel: The recommended retail price for this accent, normal and muted. The best of the MIDI and other interfacing drum machine is around $1300, which is preset sounds are the rimshot, open hi -hat The RZ-1 has MIDI IN, OUT and THRU quite reasonable considering the Australian and ride cymbal which is excellent. The on its rear panel. The MIDI OUT enables dollar's demise against the Japanese yen. other sounds are of a reasonable quality, but the RZ-I to transmit MIDI clock informa- Also, it is worth remembering that the price lack the punch one would expect (even tion, allowing it to set the tempo of all the of RZ-1 is similar to that of non -sampling when accentuated). sequencers in the MIDI system. The MIDI drum machines of similar specs. Remove flux with a brilliant combination and brilliant consistancy... FREON` TMS & UN S9NICS FREON TMS. The No. 1 fluorocarbon solvent for removal of flux from printed circuit boards. Worldwide. No wonder. FREON TMS is extremely effective. Reliable. And simple to use. It meets the industry's most stringent flux removal standard: MIL P-28809. So you're assured of a large safety margin. Even if you don't require this optimum standard. What's more, this gives you provision for future needs. FREON TMS fluorocarbon solvent is easy to use with any type of system: Spray, in -line, batch, ultrasonic or non -ultrasonic cleaning. Start removing flux with brilliant consistency today. Please send me your "Trouble Shooting Guide to Defluxing with Du Pont FREON Solvents." Name Title Company If it doesn't Registered by Address Telephone say Du Pont U LOVELOCK LUKE PTY. LTD. Pp0 19-21 Buckland St., Broadway. Tel: (02) 211 2811 it's not FREON 84 - ETI December 1986 LO

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' `1"1T1TlÍ,t1I EQUIPMENT REVIEW SUCCESSFUL IMPACT laser printer review A new Australian printer is an unusual event. That it uses the most advanced printer technology, is comparatively cheap and looks good, are all extra plusses. Jon Fairall

IN 1984, Micropro Design, a small peripherals manufacturer merged with Impact Systems, a Sydney based printer vendor. It was an extraordinarily fertile union. From its R&D department has come a string of designs and, most importantly, a series of printers. The latest Impact printer is the L400. It's fast, silent, puts out a quite stunning variety of type shapes, does superb graph- '1 ics and is not overly expensive. It's very good. The secret: laser printing. The technique in laser printing is to scan a laser beam across a photosensitive paper like that used in a photocopy machine. In fact, laser printers like the Impact often use ordinary photocopy paper. As it scans across the paper, the beam is modulated by an electronic signal running at 3 MHz. This produces a resolution on the paper of about 11 dots per millimetre. It takes about 1.5 ms to do a horizontal scan so an entire page is created in about five seconds. Some things follow immediately from this method of printing. For a start, because the marks on the page are made up of extremely fine points, there is nothing standing in the way of a full graphics capacity. Another thing: there are no impacting The Impact Laser 400 printer. Top left Is the control panel, at bottom the paper feed tray which looks and like points, so it's silent in operation. In fact acts one on a photocopier. At top right Is an optional font cartridge. the loudest noise is the paper advance mechanism. can be used to control the laser engine. Functions At the core of the new technology is the This involves a number of tasks. For in- Impact Systems- has achieved all these `laser engine'. Laser engines contain the stance, the more compatible the printer is aims with its printers. There are five but- laser and the scanning mechanism. How- with existing printer commands, the bigger tons on the front of the box of the L400 ever, these are quite useless on their own. the range of letter shapes (fonts) and from which the device can be pro- They need to be matched with a paper sizes, the easier it will be to sell. grammed, using a simple menu driven sys- transport a mechanism, box, and most im- If the printer is to have any special tem. From left to right: the ON -LINE/ - portantly of all, a controller. characteristics of its own, it helps if these OFF -LINE button connects the printer to The function of the controller is to take can be accessed with as little fuss as possi- the computer. When off-line, the operator the commands coming down from the host ble. Indeed, it helps if the whole device is can program the device. Next to it, the computer and turn them into a code that easy to operate. PROG button readies the printer for pro- 86 - ETI December 1986 zt.Nr/..n gramming. lionworw o...,....,u.... Third is the TEST button. This initiates a self test routine provided the unit is off- G line. If in program mode, pressing this causes a scroll through the menu. Various O menus allow page formatting, changing the emulation mode, storing fonts, and so * on. A fourth button is marked FF which when off-line will perform a form feed. However in program mode, this allows you to select the sub -menus. From the emulation menu, for instance, you might choose between Diablo, Qume, Epson, -c. HP or the Impact's own command set. The fifth button is labelled MAN F, and allows you to achieve manual feed of the paper. (Why bother, I ask myself.) In the program mode this button allows selection of the various available parameters. In practice, this is dead simple to operate. Once you understand the hierarchy of .` the buttons you can dispense with the .,+ manual and have fun teaching yourself _-- _-^ 4K(.a ~ what all the settings do. It's not the logical al,. way to do it, but you make friends with R31 Kti-k\, ritl - your printer so much it's \ME ' MV\JiA ( ¡-1 faster, and much [OA" more dignified than consulting the book. Ce,nw (\i\T I One of the most interesting features the Irdb+00-~""r oe printer offers, which is available indepen- H~,f1V dently of its standard emulation modes is the Impact command language. In this operation, the printer requires a special lead-in character (LIC), to recognise a command sequence. The LIC can be set from the front panel. Once set, the computer can control the printer directly by sending the LIC down graphics mapping, Impact is the line. It is in this mode that the power For full blown also selling a 2048 Kbit ROM option for the printer. of the machine becomes really apparent. ercise, each character is divided up into 32 automatically superimposed. By sending the LIC plus a control group x 32 dots (equals 1024 bits). Whether a It may well this sort which usually consists of two letters you turn out that of fa- particular dot is on or off then depends cility is one of the most can get at the power of the on -board com- on important that the state of a bit in the 128 bytes neces- laser printers offer. The ability to mix and puter. The range of tricks is far greater sary to describe the character. match fonts, place text anywhere on the than we have space for here, but a pot- pourri: Graphics cells can be defined and sent page, do diagrams and graphics charac- to the printer. These consist of 32 x ters, leads naturally to publish- PC: allows one to print special characters, 32 desk top contiguous dots. Additional commands ing. It's no longer good enough to write a usually the ASCII codes less than 20 allow vertical or horizontal lines, letter. Now you create a work of art. which are normally used for foreign boxes and fills. The fill pattern These require a language extensions. can be any one capabilities consider- 12 available. A further able amount of processor and memory MP and ML: select portrait or landscape of the command can be used to control the position overhead. None of it represents an over- orientation for the printing on the of the cursor. This means that graphics head for the however. all page. charac- computer, It's ters can be positioned anywhere on done by the sophisticated management of LP: allows you to select line pitch within the the document. paper. the controller on board. Other commands select way character pitch. A special use of graphics is in the gen- One of handling things might be to eration of forms. A special set of com- create a full bit image (analogous to a TF: Change Font. You can change the mands allows one to position the cursor frame store in a digital TV). However, to size, shape, density and anything else anywhere, print text or graphics do so would require about a megabyte of you like about the printed characters and so on. a memory. A meg of memory, even in these within the document. Composition of form begins with the Forms Start command, FS. Any printable days, is not cheap. character or command can then be used to Another alternative would be to store Graphics create the form, followed by a Form Fin- only a single line of characters at a time. Impact has also integrated a comprehen- ish, FF, command. The form created can The actual dot pattern that drives the sive graphics facility into its printer. For then be summoned with the Form Start, printer is created from an on -board font instance, it's possible to define a unique FS, command. From then on ordinary text stored in ROM. This could be imple- set of characters using the Font Transfer coming down the line from the computer mented with less than 5K of RAM, but command TF. For the purposes of the ex - will be printed with the image of the form the trouble is that it makes the printer as ETI December 1986 - 87 EQUIPMENT REVIEW

rigid in its operation as a daisywheel. In a the task buffers by reading the command Versions daisywheel printer, you are limited by the RAM. It is controlled by 16K of EPROM The L400 is exceptionally cheap for a laser font on the daisy at any one time. To and has 128K or 256K of its own RAM to printer, at around $4000. It's a slightly change fonts, you change daisies. Likewise play with. derated version of the L800 which is in this scheme. You must change ROM to The font processor takes the informa- somewhat more expensive and has been in change fonts. Since a comparable daisy- tion from the task buffers and, directed by production for a few months already. The wheel is much cheaper, there would be lit- the program in EPROM, assembles 'scan' differences are in the number of library tle benefit. lines. Scan lines are sections of memory, fonts provided internally, the L400 has Impact went for an alternative some- the bits of which directly control the pres- only two versus the L800's 12; and in where between these two approaches. It ence of dots on the page. For instance a pages per minute, the L400 is limited to has managed to preserve most of the free- logic 1 results in the laser being on, a 0 in only four per minute. However, upgrades dom of a complete memory mapping of it being off. One complete line requires are available once you have the basic unit. the page, while only paying a small price 2500 bits (dots), and the buffer is con- Production of the L400 started in June in terms of memory size. structed so that eight lines are assembled with initial manufacture at a subcontract In the Impact 400/800, the controller is at once. assembly plant at Penrith to the west of based around two 68000 processors. One, This system has a number of advan- Sydney, and final assembly at Impact's the command processor, looks after all the tages. Firstly, a very large number of fonts Chatswood plant. Production, started at interfacing to the host, the front panel, can be created and called up at will by the 100 a month and is ramping up to 500 a the display and the laser engine. It is pro- command processor. There is room for up month by year's end. Current production vided with 128K for input buffering and to 15 separate fonts, including bold, italic, of the company's L800 is already at 256K of EPROM for operating system and inverse, rotated and magnified variations. around 500 per month. font storage. In addition they can be added to at will by Is it worth a second look? Most defi- Most importantly, the command pro- downloading directly from the host com- nitely. Laser printers like the L400 will re- cessor builds up 'task' buffers in its 128K puter, or using EPROM cartridges. Super- place daisywheels within the near future RAM by talking to the host computer. scripts, subscripts, overprinting and so on for letter quality work, and it's easy to see These describe the characters, their font create no problem. A heavy dependence why. If you plan on getting anything more type and their positions. on software rather than hardware also than an el cheapo needle printer for $300 The second 68000, the font processor, makes it possible to emulate other printers give this one a look. For a demo get in looks after the position of the actual dots rather easily, and to update to other touch with the local Impact office in capi- on the page. It can access information in standards quickly. tal cities around the country.

THE RIGHT TOOLS FOR E e- 01PRockwell MICROPROCESSOR P. FORTH DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT 2 UPGRADE KIT -2 SINGLE CHIP (I) EC -1F11/12. DAUGHTER BOARD KIT FOR EC-1F11 FOURTH DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT 3. (ETI 696) ADDS 24 I/O UNES. WAS 592.00.. TOOLS FROM SPECIAL PRICE WITH R65F12,AO, QUIP : SOCKET, PCB $54.00 BUILT AND TESTED CYBERNETIC $79.00 EMI r= MICRO SYSTEMS 2 du (li) EC -1F12. TARGET SYSTEM (ETI. 697) LOW Program, execute debug The EP232 turns your PC or COST 2 MHz MINIMUM MICRO COMPUTER code on your PC. SYSTEM. FEATURES 38 110 16K MEMORY MAP Award winning simulator CPM computer Into a versatile EXTENDABLE TO BEYOND 4M BYTE. RS232 I/F, id te, 1Y90 re mes a dynamically WATCHDOG, NiCd BATTERY BU. IDEAL FOR 1.01 . ,. . ., ., ., displays EPROM PROGRAMMER able to source flow. INDSUTRIAL CONTROL AND INSTRUMENTS. e1peRlx; V ., I J program all common EPROMS WA". , . , , Demo disk & manual PCB $29.00 SPECIAL KIT WITH R6SF12A0, QUIP available. up to 27512. SOCKET, & PCB WAS $79.20 SPECIAL KIT $49.00 BUILT AND TESTED WITH 8K RAM Software provided gives a $129.00 OTHER DEVELOPMENT TOOLS: -, comprehensive set of (iiI) EC1F11IAD. ANALOGUE UO ADAPTOR CARD Cross Assemblers for all processors commands. (ETI. 1605) FOR EC -1F11 FORTH DEVELOPMENT (inc. 68xx) $CALL KIT. 8CH 11 BIT DYNAMIC RANGE ADC, 2CH 8 via DAC, GTEK 7228 Simple interface RS232 WATCH DOG. IDEAL FOR REAL TIME Universal EPROM CONTROL. WAS Programmer port. $139.00 SPECIAL KIT PRICE $1140 WITH R65F12 AO & QUIP SOCKET & PCB. PROTEL PCB V2.0 PCB Layout CAD TTL PROM programming 589.00 System $890 modules available. PC -compatible, 640K RAM, Dual Locally made EP232 costs a Floppy $1285 fraction of imported MICE -II In energig -Circuit Emulators $CALL programmers. Compilers for all languages, CP/M, CONTROL MS-DOS $CALL CALL FOR DETAILS Energy Control Ply Ltd offer PO Box 6502, OLD technicalprsupport Diamond Systems (03) 714 8269 GOODNA 4300 foorrall praducls. PHONE: (07) 3762956, TELEX: AÁ43778 ENECON 13ALTEC P.O. Box 105, Hurstbridge 3099 PO Box 12153, Wellington North 17 CASTLE/MINE ,I ST. MILTON 0. 4061 New Zeeland. Phones 1071 369 5900 Trier AA 40891 SYSTEMS PHONE (644) 84-3499, TELEX: NZ 30135 AUDITOR ' '15 88 - ETI December 1986 ;f - . >',,,,tr 11- .',

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Innóvatlon House, multi -tenant lease accommodation at Technology Park, Adelaide. SOUTH AUSTRALIA: THE TECHNICAL STATE There's a burgeoning high tech industry in the South that not all Australia knows about. SA is a place where education and industry meet and apparently prosper.

ADELAIDE IS known for many things: an Australia where they really believe in a engineering. The South Australian scene is atmosphere that fans call 'laid back', and technology -led recovery. small, a strange conglomeration of skills critics 'sleepy'; lots and lots of English In some circles Adelaide is known as stuck on the edge of a desert, so it gets migrants; the Arts Festival; the Grand Prix. much as anything for microelectronics, for noticed. In fact, the South Australian It's also perhaps the only state capital in robotics, for electro -optics, for biogenetic government really has managed to as- ETI December 1986 - 89 TECHNOLOGY

semble centres of expertise the equal of Salisbury. policy rather than any rational economics. anything in the rest of the world. Its list of credits is impressive. In 1952 With oil prices rising and demand for cars History the Jindivik, still in use as a pilotless target falling, it came increasingly under pressure. aircraft, was developed there; in 1954 the Chrysler left, and other major makers The things that make South Australia and world's first wire guided anti-tank weapon; subcontractors followed. special in a technological sense really in '57 the Skylark sounding rocket; in '59 started after the second world war way in a the Ikara rocket torpedo, still in service with that reflects precious little credit on Recovery Austra- the Royal Navy and the RAN. In 1967 the lia. The British, feeling left behind in the With its industrial base first and only Australian satellite, Wresat, contracting, the nuclear race, needed somewhere to let government turned to two areas for off was launched atop a US Redstone rocket rescue; their bombs. While the British mining was the short dallied over from Woomera. In 1975 the Barra sono- term answer, the their decision (Australia or the revitalization of industry the Canada?), buoy was released. So far its sales have long term Prime Minister raced solution. around Whitehall earned $IOOm, mainly from Britain. begging and pleading with whoever would Mining was a natural; the state Today, DRCS has a staff of about 2700, has vast listen to come and drop bombs reserves of precious on Austra- currently over half the total staff of the minerals. Unfortu- lia. nately, some of it is also Defence, Science and Technology depart- uranium. The road They did. From the to a mining-led late '40s to the late ment. It is the largest scientific laboratory in recovery has been at the '50s, the desert heat of Australia became a expense of many a demonstrator in the Southern Hemisphere, and one can only the back testing field for all that was new of a paddy waggon. and assume its comparative invisibility on the horrendous in other peoples' weaponry. The road to a technology -led Australian scene is due to the paranoia that recovery has From Woomera flew Blue been somewhat less Steel and Blue surrounds military endeavours. slower, sensational, but Streak, Bloodhound and Seaslug; names to no less significant. After years Current interest centres on a laser depth of debate the conjure with; designed to kill; to government decided the most destined sounder operating from marine aircraft, an appropriate rust in some mouldy way of signalling its intentions was underground bunker over-the -horizon radar and a unique rocket, to set up in the heart of mother England. a Technology Park, designed to hover close to ships to attract modelled on the parks There were some that were springing in advantages for the incoming missiles. The latter development up the US. Australians, however. Over The idea was the years a has much interested the Royal Navy, that industry of a certain home grown would centre of expertise grew up in especially survivors of HMS type be homogeneously located in a rocketry and Sheffield. space activity. But when There's even talk about particular area, and close to a University. ,imperial licensed construc- ambition died in the mid '50s so tion in the US. The site should have been close to the did the desire fora rocket range the University of on other DRCS also provides many services for Adelaide, but since that was side of the world. The British got on built out, the their local industry, for instance, there are three government decided to locate ships and went home, and the the park next Australian laboratories capable of doing precise testing to the South Australian space industry, such as it was, was Institute strangled of mechanical, electrical and environmental of Technology's new campus at at birth. The Levels. parameters. Products can be tested against Today, Woomera is a shadow of its vibration, The South Australian government did former noise, mechanical stress and so glory. The Americans maintain a on. the site planning and land acquisition facility there that's part of their Defence during 1982-83, and set up the first building Space Communications Network, but it's in early 1984. It's managed by the Tech- destined to be superseded within the next The '7Os nology Park Adelaide Corporation (TPAC), In few years by satellite communications. the meantime, the state went after a an independent board with representatives multitude After that: nothing, unless a reborn Austra- of industries with large require- drawn from government, academia and ments for lian space industry does something really unskilled or semi -skilled workers. industry. The board then rents out space to By surprising. the mid -'60s, most of the major car interested companies. Special legislation makers But the ties between Adelaide and the and 'metal benders' had some was built into the TPAC enabling act to Defence and Technology culture of representation in South Australia. There select tenants who conform to their vision was a particularly Woomera could not be broken quite that strong representation by of the type of concern required at the park. the automotive easily. A huge infrastructure of manufac- trade. General Motors was By almost any Count it's been successful. perhaps turing, scientists, technology of all kinds, the most significant, certainly the There are currently about 30 odd companies had been created to service the rocket range longest lasting, most enduring. located there, with several other significant There from Adelaide. There was a who's who of was also a considerable presence ones in the immediate vicinity. According from the British aircraft industry: Bristol Air- companies that produced a major part to TPAC Executive Director, Barry Orr, craft; English Electric, Fairey. The major of the nation's output of household ap- plans are now well advanced for the fourth British electronic contractors, like Thorn, pliances, electronic machinery and com- multitenant building on the site, reflecting ponents. EMI and Mullard were there too. the fact that development has proceeded Then in Denied their original reason for exist- the early '70s disaster struck. faster than was originally anticipated. There was ence, they took a long hard look at the place, a general downturn in manufac- Among the more notable companies the turing, caused people and, no doubt the economics of partially by the international currently in residence are the VLSI de- the climate, operation, and stayed. The scale of partially by a sudden draconian signers Austek and Integrated Silicon De- increase in operations was smaller, for a while very the cost of oil, and exacerbated sign, the South Australian Centre for much by the smaller, but there was sufficient work policies of the government. The Remote Sensing, electro -optical engineers, for whole them to survive and prosper in the long of Australian manufacture suffered in Laserex, and Vision Systems, who build run. the ensuing carve up, none more so than in specialist computer imaging equipment. South Australia. Built into the fabric of the Park are DRCS The car manufacturing industry had specialist services likely to be in demand by The other major legacy from Woomera was always been a marginal industry in this the types of corporation setting up there. the DRCS, the Defence Research Centre at country, supported by government pricing For instance, SA1T runs Techsearch from 90 - ETI December 1986 -" Cti.}. .r -4 i. " \ 1 ~ C?4. :'` 7 .l 'f« 1~ .r. ;:-.c-`1.1.;:` .. o .r-7'117;1. _

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the Park, which specializes in personnel entrepreneurs in the view that high tech- chase the main buyers of Australian elec- services for specialist technical support and nology investment is not entirely silly. If it tronics: Telecom and the Defence Depart- consultancy. It also makes available SAIT's accomplishes that task it's sufficient ment. fabrication and test facilities which are justification. They have been successful enough at it to reasonably extensive, including access to become some of the largest employers in the design and manufacturing for hybrid and state. BAeA today, for instance, is working bipolar devices. Techsearch also provides The '80s on parts of the FA 18A fighter, the FI I l and access to heavy duty computing, research The clean out of the '70s destroyed many the Orion sub -hunter aircraft for the RAAF, and accounting services. It can even tell you old established firms and slimmed down doing a study on a satellite communications how to get money from a venture capitalist. many others. The Philips plant at Hendon, system in Queensland, and even working The Park is also home to the Adelaide for instance, which used to manufacture on some home grown space projects once Innovation Centre. Manager, John Taylor virtually every component made by Philips again: ERS-1 (see ETI November '86) and describes it as the most effective centre of its factories overseas in the '50s and '60s, today Endeavour, the test bed for the FUSE type in Australia. It specializes in guidance is a specialty house making hybrids and project (see ETI September '86). and referral for inventors, and in doing bipolar integrated circuits. Adelaide is not only attractive to the business plans for inventors and The one good effect was to ensure that electronics giants, however. The state is an organizations who want to know how to those companies that did survive did so attractive home to a number of smaller turn a good idea into a business. because they had a sound economic base companies: Protronics, Meyer Kreig, Enter- There has been a considerable degree of and an understanding of where the market tainment Audio, and so on. By no means criticism of TPAC: that it's a government was going. The old British aircraft com- household names, they nevertheless man- bureaucracy with a trendy function; that all panies amalgamated into British Aerospace age to make a very nice living out of selling these companies would have located in Australia (BABA). Fairey Aircraft trans- and distributing around Australia. Isn't SA Adelaide anyway. It's difficult to make an ferred its entire ownership to Australia in a long way from everywhere? Not according objective appraisal of whether this is true or 1969 to become Fairey Aircraft Australia to Entertainment Audio's Peter Messer:

not. What can be said is that the existence . (FAL). Together with the other established "The client is only ever a phone call away", of the Technology Park at least encourages companies like Thorn -EMI, they began to he says. ETI December 1986 - 91

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12 CHANNEL STEREO MIXING CONSOLE (MX1210) Loaded with professional features but simple to operate. ECONOMY 4 CHANNEL MICROPHONE MIXER (MM11 DISCO MIXER WITH GRAPHIC EQUALISER (MX1) Its and makes A 3 position attenuation switch with -15dB, OdB, +15dB, size simplicity this mixer very portable and This stereo mixer is especially designed for easy to operate. together with separate mic. and line Inputs allows perfect discotheques matching with any input signal. Foldback with the pre -fade and radio studios. It Is a versatile rack or console mounting SPECIFICATIONS: mixer with varied 4 low impedance 600 ohm microphone inputs send or on stage monitoring- Includes bass and treble features which enable high quality Individual gain control for each mr.ruplenle. broadcasts through controls plus a left and right 5 band graphic equaliser. Other its 3 microphone inputs, 3 phono inputs Master volume control. or 3 line inputs. Power on LED. features Include effect return panning, P.P.I. overload InputelOutputs - a3mm mono sockets indicators and stereo headphone monitoring. Ideal for 6 channel monitoring system DC operated (9V battery only). 9 point dual LED output level display Input impedance 600 ohm. disco's with 2 stereo disc inputs with cross fade. A high Output impedance 1.56ohm. quality 12 channel mixer for the professional enthusiast. Output panpot Sgna$norse ratio 550B. 3 outputs Frequency response 20Hz to 201Hz plus or minus 2dB. SPECIFICATIONS Adjustable talkover with LED display Weight 320 grams Inputs: Dimension 148 a 46 a Master level control 86mm. Mlc 47k variable range 12 -4648 at ohm Torque 1.2200. 12 Line Input senslitrMy lmV. -2000 at 20k ohm 12 Phono -5208 at 50k ohms at 1kHz) SPECIFICATIONS Output level WinV (at input 5mV). law. 2mV Effect Return -2048 at 50k ohm Inpelk T.H.D. 0.01%. Ouputs: Mic. 47k ohms nominal 5mV CIL A12001 $44.95 PGM Out 0dB at 106 Ric. 2,3 47k ohms nominal 5n1V F/B Out 048 at 10k ohm Phono 1,2,3 47k ohms nominal 5mV Effect Send Ode al 10k ohm Une 1,2,3 37k ohms nominal 300mV Rec. Out -4dB at 10k ohm Output 16 ohm nominal 0.775V Headphones +10dB al 600 ohm (100 1k ohm) Rec. Out 1k ohm nominal 2501St/ Equaliser (Channel): Bass+-12dB(100Hz), Treble+-12d8(10kHz) Une Out 16 ohm nominal 250rnV Frequency Raspones: Equaliser Master): 100/330/1k/3.36U10kHz, IS band stereo)+ -12d8 Frequency Response: 20.20kHz (+108,-3dB) Talk laic. 150Hz 71tHz -340 SM Ratio (11F -A)'. 120áB Mic. 2,3 15Hz - 30kHz -348 T.H.D.: 0.15% at kHz Phono 1,2,3 20Hz - 20kHz +-248 iIi Peak Indicators: 12 x LED Line 1,2,3 15Hz 100kHz -348 Power Supply: 240V AC 50Hz S/N Ratio: (IHF-A.mput short) Power Consumption: 8W Talk MIq -73d6/5nW MIc. Dimensions: 662(W) n 35610) 0 105(Himm 2,3 -73d8/5mV Weight; 8kg Phono 1,2,3 -7648/5mV Line 1,2,3 -80011300mV RRP $1,256 OUR PRICE $1,150 Crosstalk: Batter man 6048/1 kHz T.N.D.: Less than 0.1%/1kHz H.P. Out Level: 55mW/60 ohms 1k ohm kw. Eq. Frequency: 60250nk/IW12kHz+-1248 n 16 CHANNEL STEREO MIXING CONSOLE (MX1610) Talk Over Leval: -14118 The same general description as the MX1210 but with the Meter Level: 0d8-0.775V/1.5V advantage of more channels. Power Consumption: 15 waits Power Supply: 240V SOHz Dimensions: 462)W)x222(H)x130(D)mm UNIVERSAL MIXER WITH CUE CONTROL (MM3) SPECIFICATIONS Net Weight: 4.5kg Microphone inputs 2 high or low impedance. Inputs: R.R.P. $865 OUR PRICE $765 Two stereo phono Inputs or 16 0 Mlc -46dB at 47k ohm magnetic ceramic. 16 a Line -20dB at 20k ohm 1 stereo line input for tape or tuner. 16 Phono -52dB at 50k ohm(approx 2mV at 1 kHz) Cue function with LED indicator for each input. Effects Return -20dB at 50k ohm Outputs: Tape recorder output connections. PGM Out 008 4110k Dual VU meters to monitor output and cue level. FIB Out Od8 at 10k ohm Mono/stereo mode selector. Effect Sound Ode at 10k ohm Rec. Out -408 at 10k den Battery test button to check their condition. Headphones +10dB at 600 ohm (100 1k ohm) DC or AC adaptor operation. Equaliser (Channel): Bass+-12dB(100Hz), Treble +-1208(106Hz) Equaliser (Master): 100/330/1 k/3.3W t OkHz, (5 band stereo) + -12dB Frequency Response: 20. 20kHz Input (+10B,-3dB) Sensitivity: Mic. low 0.7mV at 600 Ohm,Mic High 3 5mV at 50k ohm SM Ratio (114F -A): 12048 Ptgno Nag. 2.5mV at 506 ohm, Phone Cer. 15omV at 100k Ohms T.M.D.: 0.15% at 1kHz t50mV Tape Tuner: 50k ohms Peak Indicators: 16 a LED S./14 Ratio: More man 5548 Power Supply: AC1 1 72 2 0124 0V, 50/60Hz T.N.D.: Less than 0.5% Power Consumption: 8W Frequency Response: 20- 20kHz +-20B Dimensions: 750(W) x 356(0) a 105(H)mm Output Level: 300r~ Weight: 9kg Recording Output: 120inV RRP $2,330 OUR PRICE $2,095 ARLEC "DISCO LITE" Power Source: 9V DC (PPl0O9) CONTROLLER Dimensions: 265 a 195 x 70mm Give your ponies a Weight: 1.8kg professional touch with the 41100 "Disco Lire-. RRP 5199 OUR PRICE $179 Simply plug your lighgs) kno the -Disco Lite" and you've instant party Wei 3 DIFFERENT MODES! Made by Piezo (Azden) of Japan. Music Mode: Place the -Disco Life" this device will turn any microphone in range of the speakers and 4 fined won a Cannon Type male flashes the egnts to the beat of the socket into a wireless microphone. music! The plug recerer will into any Strobe Mode: Simply adjust to 6.35mm microphone Input. Both desired speed) Great for mime or transmitter and receiver can be theatre! The Christmas season or tuned from 76.81 MHz. advertisingl Freq. Response: 50- 16kHz Dim Mode: Allows you to dim the Tunable: 76-81MHz lights to create moods, effects etc. Field Strength: Cat. M22003 Transmitter lOuV/100 metres $49.50 Receiver 15mV (100%) Battery, Transrrlltter LR44 (1 5V) Receiver 3 a UM4 (4.5V) Instructions: Japanese (English not available!) Cat A10520 AM". $199 UNIVERSAL STEREO MIXER WITH MULTITRACK MIXING CONSOLE (MX842) Our price, only $189 GRAPHIC EQUALISER (MM4) With balanced and Cannon inputs the MX842 is a complete The MM4 is our most flexible mixer. Incorporating the most multitrack mixing console. The four group out with stereo advanced IC for technology performance and reliability. master configuration is designed for both studio and P.A. Built in graphic equaliser virtually eliminates the need for applications, either with a four track recorder or live P.A. a pre Features 4 -amplifier. stereo program and 2 mixing with the advantage of four sub groups. It is well microphone Inputs. equiped with all functions needed to produce first class SPECIFICATIONS: results. Input Sensitivity: FEATURES: CRYSTAL LOCKED Mic. 1.5mV of 10k ohm Balanced line inputs Phono. 1.5nW at 50k ohm WIRELESS MICROPHONE Une 75mV at 506 ohm Cannon and 6.35mm inputs AND RECIEVER Rated Output: 240V operated, fuse protected MICROPHONE SPECIFICATIONS: Amp 1V/600 ohms Trenemitting Frequency:37.1MHz Re<. 1V/600 ohms Comprehensive headphone monitoring Transmitting System: crystal T.N.D.: Less thaw 1% at 1kHz MICROPHONE ECHO oscillation Hum end Noise: Inputs: ADAPTER (SM100) Microphone: Eladret condenser Mic. .5248 B x Mic: -4648:10k ohm (Cannon) Gives microphones 'depth-. Power Supply: 9V battery Phono 62dB B a Une: -2008/156 ohm (6.35) Invaluable when using them M Range: 300 feet N open held Line .6548 Outputs: "dead- roonvhalls etc. Dimensions: 185 a 27 x 38mm Frequency Response: 2 x Master: Max. output +1 BdBV (Cannon) Echo effects may be varied Weight: 160 grams Mic 30.16kHzltdB) 4 a Group: Man. output +18dBV (6.35mm) Volume Control RECIEVER SPECIFICATIONS: Phono 30 20kHz (RIAA+-d8) 1 a Master Effect Send: Gam 184131/ (6.35mm) Power on LED 8edeving Fop : 37.1MHz Une - 30kHz 1.1401 2 Record: 20 Gain 18á8V (6 35mm) Fits in line Output Level: 30mV '.maximum) Power 1 n Headphone Source: 240V AC 50Hz Output: 2rnW-Skohm, 30mW at 500ohms Standard 6.5mm socket and plug Rcieving System: Super She: 360 a 260 a 85mm Frequency Response: 20-206Hz +-206 Power 9V battery heterodyne crystal oscillation. Weight. 2.9kg SIN Ratio: 1204 Input low impedance Power T.N.D.: Less than Supply:9V Bakery or 9V DC 0.15% at 1kHz Output 30mV (max) power adapter. EQUALISER SECTION Peek Indicators: 5 pant master level Control Signal/noise ratio 4048 Control Frequency: Power Volume control of 60Hz. 250Hz. 16Mz, 3.5kHz. 12kHz Consumption: 15W Delay time up to 60m seconds Tuning LED Control Range: + 12dB boost or cut centre delent Power Supply: 240V AC 50Hz Frequency response 50. 15kHz Dimensions: 115 x 32 a 44mm Headphone Output: Dimensions: a (Coel50mW at 75 ohm at 0.5% T.N.D. 622(W) 105(H) a 356(DImm Cord length 75cros Weight: 220 grams Talk Switch: -140B Weight: 6.8kgs Weight 220 grams Cal. A10452 R.R.P. R.R.P. $399 OUR PRICE R.R.P. $1,425 Dimensions 115 a 32 x 44mm $113 5379 OUR PRICE 51,275 Our price, . CaL A10530 544.95 $99 FREE POSTAGE FOR ALL ORDERS OVER S75 & UNDER 3KG

Audio Audio Audio Audio Audió\A4ó CROSSOVER NETWORKS P,,, Crossovers are essential for muleway speaker systems, otherwise your 7 bass will be degraded by inter- modulation distortion and cone (.0.) break up, and your treble will be 4,.., ,4, ANTENNA BOOSTER distorted by bass components. CAR REPLACEMENT CAR These crossovers are designed to -\.., In -line instalation 1" DOME TWEETER SPEAKERS channel only the frequencies that 12V boosts 100% handle. rated ohm, Nominal 3W, each diner can properly SPEAKER ale All are al 4 Cat. A12073 $7.95 myt., Maximum SW with 3 inch magnets. Read the specifications to choose diaphragm for your need. SPECIFICATIONS: 8" TWIN CONE and feature dust proof covers the correct one \ Sensitivity: 960B FULL RANGE SPEAKER 5" x 7' Oval Cat.C10757 . $11.95 Frequency Response: 2-20 kHz Foam edge, black coos, black 4" a 6" Oval Cat 010746..510.50 Impedance: B ohms whzzer come 5" Round CaI.C10705 $8.95 Power WAS: 15 watts RMS SPECIFICATIONS: Magnet Weight: 5.442. 6" Round Cat.C10706 $10.95 S naltMty: 98áB n--11 Size: 96mm diameter Frequency Response: 45-16 kHz Cat C10234 $10.95 Impedance: 8 ohms Power RMS: 30 watts WAS Magnet Weight: 13oz Cal. C10224 $23.95 MINI P.A. 011 2 WAY 60 WATT PORTABLE STEREO VOLUME NETWORK AMPLIFIER CROSSOVER system. sets CONTROL 6dA attenuation A completely portable Inputs for 30W HMS, wire wound. Ceramic over point 3,500 Hz up anywhere in seconds Cross microphone, organ and base with heatsink Impedance ohms electronic 6 cassette players. Variable echo Cal. A $29.95 Cat A16001 57.95 makes this an ideal unit her buskers and budding singers r SPECIFICATIONS: STEREO VOLUME W Output power': 1W RMS, 2W max. CONTROL Frequency Response: 100-15kHz 10W RMS, wire wound. Peraenc 2" HORN TWEETER Speaker: 5" lull range, 4 ohms base with heatsink Echo Time: Venable 5-52nVsec SPEAKER 8" WOOFER Power size batteries Cat. A 529.95 Source:6 a "D" Mylar diaphragm, aluminium voice HIGH POWER SPEAKER (position for power adaptor also) col Cloth edge, dark grey cone, rubber Sae: 280(H)1 1201W) a 1801D)mm SPECIFICATIONS: mounting seal, cloth dust cap. Weight: 1 3k Sensitivity: 9508 SPECIFICATIONS: Cat A12022 589.95 Frequency Response: 1.5-20 kHz Seneltivny: 9008 Impedance: 8 ohms Frequency Response: 60-4 kHz Power RMS: 10 watts RMS Impedance; 8 ohms CAR ANTENNAS Weight: 2.Soz. WAY 60 WATT Magnet Power RMS: 50 warts RMS 3 58.95 MODEL CA -1 CROSSOVER NETWORK Cat. C10232 Magnet Weight: 20oz. 4 section 6dB attenuation Cat C10226 534.95 860mm length Cross over point B00 and 5,000 Hz Top key lock down Impeda 8 ohms metre lead 1.2 Cal A16003 512.95 Cat. A12061 55.95

MODEL CA -2 SPEAKER SELECTION MINI HAND HELD 3 section SWITCH MEGAPHONE of 3 sets o1 1.4 metres extended Allows or5Off selection Suitable to schools, sports meetings. stereo speakers 1 2 metre lead boats. etc Portable lightweight and connections with Spring based All irpuVoutpur effective with anti howling dynamo screw terminals High power output, low Cal A12062 513.95 microphone. Input 8-16 ohms power consumpho. Output 8 ohms SPECIFICATIONS: MODEL CA -3 Cat $14.50 Size: I50mm diameter Stainless 4" EXTENDED RANGE 10" WOOFER Power output: 2/4 wan maximum Top cowl SPEAKER HIGH POWER SPEAKER Effective Distance: 120 metres 1 whip grey cone rubber Power source: 6 a AA' batteries section 3 WAY 100 WATT Rubber edge, black cone Cloth edge, dark 1 metre length SPECIFICATIONS: mounting seal, cloth dust cap. Power duration: 6 hours 12 metre lead CROSSOVER NETWORK Sensitivity: 90dB SPECIFICATIONS: Weight: 0.6kg. 12dB attenuation Frequency Response: 90-8 kHz Sensitivity: 93dB Cal A12063 S7.95 Hz Cat. Arrn 569.95 Cross Over point 800 and 5.000 Impedance: 8 ohms Frequency Response: 50-2.5 kHz aa0rg Impedance 8 ohms `4"y Power RMS: 8 watts RMS Impedance: 8 ohms MODEL CA -4 Cat. A16005 $28.95 Magnet Weight: 5.3oz. Power RMS: 100 watts RMS Pillar mount Cat. C10220 $13.95 Magnet Weight: 30oz. 3 section lnrr Cal. C10228 $59.95 Suns Toyota. Nissan, Mazda l' SaiaRFa ferrfeel Cat. A12060 $6.95

MODEL CA -5 POWER/SPEAKER Root, boot. mourn anywhere SWITCH B30etm length Selects power and speakers 3 section, tuned for FM between radio and cassette player 2 metre lead (2 speakers) Cat A12065 512.95 CalA 54.95 Rod Irving Electronics 4e A'Becken St, MELBOURNE Phone (03)663 6151 MODEL CA -6 oeV Rubber ductile 5" MIDRANGE SPEAKER 425 High St, NORTHCOTE 1 Sedan flexible rubber Phone (03)489 6866 li Sealed back, loam edge, black Flexible spnrg base cone, silver dust cap. Mail Order and Correspondence. Adjustable ball SPECIFICATIONS: P.O. Boa 620, CLAYTON 3168 12 metre lead 2 WAY MID SIZED Sensnln :y: 915:1B 12" WOOFER Telex: AA 151938 Cat. A12066 511.95 SPEAKER SYSTEM Frequency Response: 500.8 kHz HIGH POWER SPEAKER assures 8 ohms igy 05.T~ou FTC Labynnih enclosure Impedance: Cloth edge, dark grey cone, rubber bass at low volume. WAS: 10 wens RMS MODEL CA -7 adequate Power mounting seal, cloth dust cap POWER/SPEAKER Polypropolene woofer with Magnet Weight: 5.4ot. SPECIFICATIONS: Black, 1 section whip aluminium volts colt. Finished in Top cowl SWITCH Cat. C10230 $12.95 Sensitivity: 97dB walnut cabinet with removeable Frequency Respon 28-4 kHz 1 metre length Selects power and speakers , black grille. Impedance: 8 ohms 1 2 metre lead between radio and cassette player SPECIFICATIONS: Power RMS: 50 watts RMS (4 speakers) HOTUNE Cat A12067 57.95 Speakers: 612" woofer and Magnet Weight: 30oz. MAIL ORDER Cat. A $8.95 212- tweeter. Cal. C10229 569.95 008 335757 Power Input: 30W RMS 86dB,Wm (TOLL FREE) Impedance: 8 ohms Frequency Response: 60- 213kHz (STRICTLY ORDERS ONLY) Size: 345(H) x 230(W) a 2BOID)mm Weight: each LOCAL ORDERS 3.8kg 8 INQUIRIES CaL C10766 $179 (03) 543 7877 61/2" TWIN CONE POSTAGE RATES: SPEAKER 51 59.99 52.00 FULL RANGE DUAL ATTENUATOR $3.00 Foam edge. black cone, black *LED indicator 510 524.99 225 549.99 54.00 CAR ANTENNAS (POW- whiner cone range for way systems Mid/High 3 550 599.99 5500 STEREO FADER SPECIFICATIONS: Impedance 8-10 ohms ERED) Sensitivity: 89d8 5100 5199 57.50 CONTROL Power handling 18 watts RMS 510.00 Allows tromirear control. 30W RMS. Frequency Response: 60-15 kHz 5200 5499 MODEL ACA -1 Cat. A16013 517.95 1500 plus 512_50 Sena automatic ceramic base with heatsink Impedance: 8 ohms Power WAS: 10 watts RMS FREE POSTAGE FOR ORDERS 5 section A 525.95 Cat. Magnet Weight: 5.3oz. OVER 575 & UNDER 3KG0 1 metre stainless steel 12 metre feeder cable Cal C10222 514.95 The above postage rates an for 12V DC basic postage only. Road Freight, bulky and fragile Items will be Cat. 012070 534.95 charged al different rates. 3 WAY MINI BOOKSHELF Certlóed Post /or Ceders over -2 it 1110!2 SPEAKER SYSTEM MODEL ACA Superb 5100 included free! Fully automatic Aluminium ~cast cabinet Post for orders over for ti's size with pdmr Registered section ELECTRONIC RHYTHM sound heel 5 cone for bass dner. Finished in 02001ncuded 1 metre stainless steel BOX silver/grey with black mesh gnlle All sales tea exempt orders and 1.2 metre feeder cable rhythms, Trot, Rock 8 selectable and caries complete with mounting wholesale Inquiries to: 12V DC Disco, Bossanova. Waltz. Slow EXTENSION SPEAKER 1 bracket walnut cabinet with RITRONICS WHOLESALE, Cal. A12071 $49.95 Rock, Cha Cha. Rumba Sbmline Renver Rd, Clayton. adaptor SPECIFICATIONS: mounting holes and volume comp. 56 Power 9V battery or AC Ph. (03) 543 2166 (3 lines) Speakers: 412' woofer. SPECIFICATIONS: Volume control midrange. 1" dome tweeter. UNIVERSAL CAR MODEL ACA-3 control, 10 steps 7 Speaker: 5" Errors ano omissions excepted Rhythm tempo Power Input; 30W RMS 86dB/Wm RADIO/CASSETTE LEAD Semi automatic, flush head e Power on LED impedance:80nm we recommit raw Minn Impedance: 8 ohms Connects stereo unit to battery, 'Aoaki era ram 5 section Footswrtch facilities Magnet: 3oz Frequency Response: 70 - 20kHz speakers switch. Universal plug fits 1 metre stainless steel Output lever 150rnV (max) Nominal Power: 3W/5W maximum Size: 186(11) a 116(W) a 120(0)rnm most stereo ones Fuse earner in red 1 2 metre feeder cable 750 grams Size 245(L) a 1501W) a 65(1))inm VISA Weight Weight: 2kg each lead with 3A fuse. 12V DC Dimensions 190. 52 a 132mm Cat. C7777? $44.95 Cat.C10764 $169 Cal. A12052 $2.95 Cat A12072 $59.95 Cal. A12048 $89.95 FREE POSTAGE FOR ALL ORDERS OVER S75 & UNDER 3KG!! NTION "WHICH

we 015C0 wDIrlú 9t14, It Nave Showrooms: RADIO DO 300 Main Street, Lilydale P.O. Box 509, Lilydale, 3140 Moved! Melb. Vic. (03) 735-0588 673 High Street, Preston (03) 470 5822 AMPLIFIERS NEED?" II WE ARE NOW THE I ZPE Series (600W) $2500 appointed Queensland DISCO MIXERS $1100 Distributors for all Citronic SM 350 ...THE Arista with equaliser $450 NATIONAL PANASONIC ANSWER IS JUMBO STROBE $195 spare parts. IN THE PALM Scanner $150 HELICOPTER OF YOUR HAND 2 ARM Spinner $300 ALSO stocking what we Whatever task you 4 ARM Spinner $498 believe to be the most have to do the ICOM 6 ARM Spinner $580 comprehensive range of :lux PINSPOT IC -40 is the one that can 4.4,4".11Par 36 $59 electronic components handle it. Par 56 $130 accessories, tools and test It's ideally suited for MIRROR BALLS equipment in Queensland ' MB 008-8" $58 farming, transport, sports, - MB 012 $88 today. bushwalking & boating. MB 014 $120 Whatever the communica- MB 018 $160 SUPPLYING professionals MB 020 $198 tion problem you need SMOKE MACHINES and hobbiyists alike, for the to solve this is the radio Great for Special Effects service of most types of that's being Hand Held 240V $375 electronic equipment for the Dynamite 1200 Smoke Machine J proven every Has remote control lead to manufacturing, installation day in a million operate off-stage. We are so and replacement parts excited about this that full money different uses. back guarantee will be valid for 10 industry. Contact your days from purchase date local dealer for Our own product $1800 WE have keen and Fluid -1 litre $15 a demonstration MIRROR BALL MOTORS professional staff eagerly of the most AC 240V $39 waiting to help. advanced CRS Heavy Duty $100 ROLLING LIGHTS portable 8 x 4515 lamps $1800 SO FOR ALL YOUR available in AUDIO CHASER ELECTRONICS ' Australia. (DW4LC4000) $700 Musicolor and chaser all in onell REQUIREMENTS Our own product

r PHONE NOW Please post to: c1'eotoc' -' e... COSMO ICOM AUSTRALIA PTY. LTD. (07) 52 3762 24 lamps , $2600 7 DUKE STREET WINDSOR 3182. Half Ball rotary light VICTORIA. 6 lamps $780 Name LAMPS all colours, so cheap) ECONOMIC No Warranty on Breakages ES 240V 60W box of 25 $100 Address LECTRONICS BC 240V 40W box of 100 $90 24 CAMPBELL STREET BC 240V 25W box of 100 S75 City BOWEN HILLS, 4006. Postcode Prices subject to change without or phone notice. Items for hire or sale. TELEX: ICOM on (03)512284 AA42883 FAX: (07) 52 2862 Power Cords not included. Send Also S.A.E. with 60 cents postage for free price list. SOUTHPORT ELECTRONICS SHOP m ICOM We have Piezo tweeters, Etone speakers. 11 DAVENPORT ST, SOUTHPORT Rope lights and many other products. PH: (075) 321 3622 The World System Do You Want To Be An Agent/ Á

BUYERS GUIDE TO COMPACT DISC PLAYERS WELCOME TO OUR compact disc extremely close to each other. a less dramatic filtering requirement. buyers' guide. On the following pages we As an example, you may notice that some From a purist's point of view several have listed all the compact disc players we manufacturers claim 94 dB SNR, others 96. problems result. An argument is often made could find in Australia. There's getting to be The most educated ear in the country will that you can actually hear the 'aliasing quite a few, so this should help you through not tell the difference. On the other hand, noise' on the waveform, especially in 14 -bit the jungle. everyone will tell the difference between machines. Alternatively, that you can hear During the last year or so compact disc that and typical tape performance, which the phase distortion in undersampled ma- players have moved from being the most might well be 20 dB worse. chines, or that the presence of the brick wall esoteric of devices to being the mandatory Slightly more controversial, but only filter gives CD an unnatural sound since next step. Soon after the introduction of the slightly, are the columns labelled 'DAC none of the ultrasonic harmonics are being first units, Sony was trying to mimic its levels' and 'oversampling'. 'DAC levels' transmitted. Walkman with a small portable; CD players refers to the number of levels of discrimi- There is probably a grain of truth in all were appearing in place of cassette units in nation in the digital signal. In machines that this. Given a perfectly optimized listening car rigs; they were even popping up in the use I6 -bit sampling there are 65,536 levels. area, the best speakers money can buy and latest ghetto blasters. As a result, we have In machines with I4 -bit words, there are no expense spared in cables and connectors broken our table down into the'four most 16,384. This means that an individual (see our 'cables' feature) an average listener common categories for hi-fi units: portable excursion of the waveform consists of, at can probably discern some of these units, players specifically for use in motor most, 16 or 65 thousand steps. differences. In an ordinary living room, the cars, mantel models that become just This step structure of a supposedly difference between 14- and 16 -bit sampling another hi-fi component and a ghetto smooth wave is called aliasing. Since the might just be discernible. Whether it's blaster class for combination units. sampling is done at 44.1 kHz, the first worth paying for is another question. In composing the table, we have tried to harmonic comes in at 22 kHz, perilously What is worth paying money for? Some include the features most likely to be of close to the top of the audio band. In order of the biggest differences are in ergonomics interest when buying a compact disc player. to avoid any interference, an anti-aliasing and appearance. This seems to be a point You will notice straight away that the filter is included in the basic CD player manufacturers are aware of, as they rush to performance characteristics like frequency design. Essentially, this is a brick wall at configure the CD player in ways that will response and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) about 21 kHz. The problem here is to avoid attract the market. The exact features have been consigned to the bottom of the phase errors being induced in the top of the depend very much on the application. list. The reason is not that they are audio band by a filter with such a sharp cut In automotive ergonomics, one of the unimportant, simply that you can't really off. One solution is to be very clever in your more interesting developments is the disc use them to decide between units. All filter design. Another is to go to oversampl- jockey type unit, where the player can be compact disc players have figures way in ing, in which the sampling is done at twice loaded with, say, 10 discs at a time. (See, for excess of any other music source, and or four times the normal rate. This leads to instance, the Sony Bootmount review in ETI December 1986 - 95 1986 CD PLAYERS BUYERS GUIDE

Keys CCCCCCC ..d

Remote Control CCCICCCC a

DAC Levels .. 1 0 Magazine Disc Capacity \`o\ c c c.. c c Total Harmonic Distortion 00....000,o ó m CO 30 atlkHz(%) 000000 0 .-. O v 0 0 0 0'1 0 DAC Levels

Signal to Noise Ratio at 1kHz (dB) ¡r 0 0 a n 0` Q 0` n n U) C7QÓNÓÓ Total Harmonic Distortion at 1kHz (%) . N N N o o 0 0 T Y T T Y T1.1 T CiC7'1 00'1 Y O Y Y O O Y U) Y Frequency Response at -3dB O N O O N N O O eq Y I N N I I N O N INIINNI= I N N N T 1 N N Signal to Noise Ratio at 1kHz (dB) Fr! 2 E2 1! N Ñ (9, Ñ Ñ 1 I I N N í''N N = X Oversampling .. .. .-. .-. .. .. N S Y T 2 Y Y O - Y O Frequency Response at -3dB N O N I CMñ o. -0 43 ,i) Ñ Line Output (V) .. .. .-4 .. .. NI N NI: .. N 1Ñ d I1 X Oversampling ...... -. Ni -' 1 U) 40 N .. .. -0 Battery (Type/Volt/No) ó ..If/ N .. -. -. -, -. Warranty (years) ...... -+ .. . u u u .. %izzz ú WeightCO(kg) .0 u) u) -IN ION.. 12V input c aXraNc X .- Warranty (years) N 91U0) í:153m .. .. X I ...... N In .. Dimensions (mm) ¿j ¿IA ñ 0x N un`, 0) LP 0 Weight (gm) 3OÓÑOrÑ) 0x ox t ID 0x U) O 03 m INI i

O'Prlce p Ñ9m l')Ñ N P? (S) 4 1 Ñ 0 .. N ...... '...... -. .. ,0 Dimensions (mm) t y 3 Ñ rj x.

1) j O 11''Ñxxxxxxxx ...... ró- Model ÚWW Price (S) > 9H8081--'óYCIUUU 11 I- o cO r) -00 L O O W S lJ CO Model 0 ó N ~ Brand C f É i M m.- o m a 4 u) T r0)~Ó 1 lc J úsúóó 1 CD 4 u I- - N CC O. N U D 0 Brand _ a 1 r CL p áIYU)(!Ul Ñ I-

96 - ETI December 1986 Turntable r 2'

+ r E November 1986.) Another point, which Ranges E l g E E E E t7) E E may be of importance, is whether the unit II 1 ? ??1?? can be removed from the car and used as a portable. a >.>>. Tuner a a a The way it's packaged will also be Tape Deck as>, a a araaa important. A unit that can be added to your existing car system will be attractive Detachable Speakers >. >. >. >. >. >, c c a a to people who already have a good system 1 installed. need make 1 1 2 L l UU However, you to sure - that appropriate inputs exists. Someone Amplifier Power 3 3 3 3 3 D.00ton u uAr-a-+Nu buying from the ground up might find a combination unit, with a tuner and amplifier, more attractive. DAC Levels 1 1 1 Not covered in the table, but worth asking about, is whether the unit is thief- á.. proofed, and if so, how. In view of the Total Harmonic Distortion at 1kHz (%) ó ó ó á ó r) .-+ ó 000 o o 00000 vulnerability of sound systems in cars, and O o O O O OO t7 0O their price, this is not insignificant. There are a number of ways of securing the player. Signal to Noise Ratio at 1kHz (dB) l m ñ One is to divide the unit up into a number of different boxes, and site them all over the car. This makes it hellishly to get at, = N N N N 1112 N difficult O Y Y m -NI 33 -Yco O O 0 0 and will deter all but the most persistent N N N OFrequency Response at -3dB Í Ñ ÑN.. thief. 1 Ñ Ñ N 1 1 1 1 1 1 !+ i. Ñ Ñ I N N N Another idea a 1 N 2 III' 2N clever is to put keypad on Ñ1 UI mffi m I mÑÑÑÑU'1 the front panel, and give the owner a code number. The owner enters the code and X Oversampling r + -+ -+ (\ f .. .-. N operates the unit as normal. However, if

0 0 M e O power is disconnected from the unit, the Magazine Disc Capacity . - . CCC c to CCCCC. code must be re-entered, since it is stored in volatile RAM. Since it is almost impossible Headphone Jack >. > ). x >, > C >. ). ). to disconnect the unit without disturbing óoóá the power supply sufficiently to scramble .i. the RAM, the unit becomes worthless to a u) U) in Battery (TypeNolt/No) . 5 . .-,.. thief. Of course, you need to put a little label -.. ro-.. on the thing to tell him and his fence the ..oc c c c 0000 0 story. 240V Input c a a a a a a a >, a With combination units, that is the ghetto blaster type, dimensions and weight u u are presumably important, as is the power 12V input Ñ source. You would also want to know c .-i c c c >, >. .. >, >. something about the characteristics of the N and tape the Warranty (years) tuner drive, amplifier, and ...-i .. .. .-1 ., .. _4 .. r) most important of all, the speakers. We have included a to tell you N U) column m d d whether Weight (kg withóut batteries) 0 ; 3 N the speakers are detachable. If they .- Cr- .. .. .fJs.p..rr11 are, you will probably be able to connect your own. This is important, because rMnvm º.m°, without good speakers, the benefits of using XXN X X XXXXXz X a CD will probably be completely nullified. Dimensions (mm) 1.1410) m P M ro7 The most important features of a port- x x xxxxx óxó able CD are not easily measured. It needs to ¡U+7 111 1 n Ill be rugged, and have good anti -jump circuits if there is any possibility of using it on the Price (S) 2 move. 9. Q e Z Ñ There are a number of small units on the market advertized as portable, which, in >g l 1 fact, require either a 240 V source, or a large 113 Cr Z Model N p Ó O r0)0 O battery pack. It's worth finding out whether q T3 vv§uwF O slid,w w the one you want has internal batteries, or needs a 240V source. Another feature worth Q Z looking at is whether it has a line output, so 1 you can plug it into your system at home. Co N r0 D 11 So, which one to buy? Read on. We think Z 3 o a 0 Brand - it's a pretty comprehensive list, but please v c r`D c m V note: omission from our list doesn't imply tñ if) (21E) 5- a view about the product; merely that we didn't know about it. ETI December 1986 - 97 1986 CD PLAYERS BUYERS GUIDE

DAC Levels Y Y Y Y Y Y Y 1-2 -ff4i $ $ $

N 4 4.. Total Harmonic Distortion óDóóóó 000D2 ó ó DDóDóóó ó óóó ó ó atlkHz(%) o 0 0000Do 0 O 00000 O o 000000 0 000 0 0 O 0 000000 O O 00000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0" o m o o O 0

Signal to Noise Ratio o NN ó 0 0 0 o at 1kHz (dB) ó ¡¡rn NN .n .p ó MM M M ,p ,,pp N o . R 0` 0 IT P 0 0 0 tD 0- 0` 0` n n n T áO

N m N N N N N N N N m N m NNN N N N N N N=_= N N N N N m N no 2-02I2SSSS2-D213 222 2 2 I 222 YYY2 2 I221320)2 13 Y M Y Y -> .Y Y Y Y Y In Y In .4i. _1C .Y u) Y U) Y)n Y Y Y 0.00000000.0. Y No N0 No m Ul Ym Y N Frequency Response at -3dB O o o Ñ Ñ Ñ Ñ o Ñ o Ñ O Ñ Ñ N Ñ:2 Ñ.-i Ñ Ñ Ñ D ÑLD. Ñ O 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I I I I I I I I N N II i I N I I I I I I I 1 I D I I N NNNNNNNN N NNNN _N 2N N NNNXIIN 2N NNN N N /T41/II/~/t U1I111 and ÑN mIIIÑÑÑ ÑIn ÑIll1N mI mI m

X Oversampling N -.N-. . .. 4 4 -4-"-4$N N N N 4

N V V , }' V M., N N a+ V N V V ., V i N 4, 4, 4, 4, 4., V .' 4, 4., V V C C C C CCCCCCCLoading C óóOOOÚO0C C C C C óoóóóc ó 0000000 ó ó ó ó ó L LLLLLLLL L L LLLLL L L LLLLLLL L LLL LL `- ...... W W 4.-4-4- W t 4- M- ...... w i W W 4- 4 -

Headphone Jack C CCCXXXXX >. >. >. C >. >. >. >. >. cc>.- c cc c 4 N N Line Output (V) N NNNNNN N N NN N N NNN N N N N N

Keys N .00n NC 'N o rN C 0 0 N ro N N.d 1 ``:M. c nine Remote Control >, c c c >. c >, >. c >. > >. c c c c >. >. c c >. c C >. c >. >. C

Warranty (years) m mm...-4.-.NNN N Ul -4 --. .+ rY) r) M) M In In In N N N -+ .+ M r) N N N N I` -4 Cr. In d.0 .0 CO ' 4 0` .. d In . 0 0 .0 M Weight9 ( k g) ¡ r0n i in r rh f') .o ui rh PI U) d M d 3 d -0 Ir u) .o .r rl d.Y r) M N In 1 -ri N N rn n ((vV N r 01 0DD0111 In M tDW(D rn rn r)r)MOOOo Ñ 0oN á 11n o O .o .a í! o o rn CD cD 0,O .+ - .+ -+ .. o o O p. x -, ., rn rn r) X MM N N M r) x N N N M M M Mr)MMMMN N MM X X X mm o XX x x x x x x m x x x x x x x x x x x x x x XXO o o Dimensions ( ) r p-p0Nt Nt1 o M O m In No O ON yy o D o N EPm( Kítaja m 0 0 -+ m r m CD U tA 0 U O 0` QJ .. x XX x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x XXX x z 1h1 dIMV 9%3Vt 113f*) r'34M 3-3-3n1 3 oO Price (S) ó Cr li 0000 1no1..E 1 1 1 11 171 11 1 11 1ór/ /4 u/ uN c, 1E 11 12.

m m Model ó .W.0DD00 0 ó o d N M

m>NIn1áóóó {{"p a0. Q. d I I Oa d aO óÓ0UÚ0UÓÓÓ Ó 4 oO o a 000uo o,n ó 2W p ID 1 u . m - 1- o _04.. Q c ICD O Ñ C Brand > ID . O E L 3 E a in N N Ó U 3 co c Lp ID C x L + pQ C.i to N Y 3 Npe Q Q Q C] 0" Y J E Z

98 - ETI December 1986 OMS -71I 3500 435x100x308 7.4 2 Y 24 2 Y front 4 5Hz-20kHz 104 0.0025 65k at -0.5dB

NEC CD500E 399 430x75x270 4.4 1 n n/a 2 n front 1 5Hz-20kHz 95 0.007 CD -509E 499 430x90x320 5 1 Y 10 2 Y front 1 5Hz-20kHz 90 0.01 Onkyo DX320 1199 435x92x357 5.8 5 Y 22 2 Y front 2 2Hz-20kHz 96 0.003 65k DX120 499 435x92x350 4.6 5 n n/a 2 n front 2 5Hz-20kHz 96 0.003 65k DX220 899 435x88x357 4.8 5 Y 15 2 Y front 2 5Hz-20kHz 96 0.004 65k Philips CD650 999 420x86x300 4 1 opt 25 2 Y front 4 2Hz-20kHz >101 <0.0015 CD304 639 420x90x300 8 1 y 13 2 Y front 4 2Hz-20kHz >96 <0.003 CD450 649 320x86x300 3.1 1 y 11 2 n front 4 2Hz-20kHz >100 <0.003 CD150 429 320x86x300 3.1 1 opt 10 2 n front 4 2Hz-20kHz >100 <0.003 Proton 830R 699 420x86x285 3.6 1 y 10 2 Y front 4 10Hz-20kHz 100 0.003 16k Realistic C01400 500 370x70x265 1 Y 8 1.8 n front 1 5Hz-20kHz 92 0.005 65k at -1dB

CD2200 400 319x83x306 1 n n/a 1.8 n front 1 5Hz-20kHz 92 0.005 65k at -1dB Revox 8225 450x109x332 8.5 1 opt 30 2 Y front 1 20Hz-20kHz 96 <0.006 65k at -0.6dB Ratel CDX7 499 340x85x295 3.3 3 Y 10 2 Y front 50Hz-20kHz 95 0.004 RCD850 549 435x94x290 3.5 3 n n/a 2 Y front 1 5Hz-20kHz 98 0.004 Sansui PCV750 699 430x82x309 4.8 2 n n/a 2 n front 5Hz-20kHz 100 0.003 65k at -0.5dB Sanyo CP710 489 420x75x270 3.4 1 y 8 n front 5Hz-20kHz 96 0.005 CP08 399 335x67x270 2.9 1 n n/a Y front 5Hz-20kHz 96 0.005 CP640 399 420x75x270 3.4 1 n/a front 5Hz-20kHz 96 0.005 Sharp DX620H 599 430x80x299 4.4 1 y 20 2 Y front 5Hz-20kHz. 0.005 DX111H 499 330x80x312 3.7 1 n n/a 2 n front 5Hz-20kHz 0.005 OX120H 599 330x80x312 3.7 y 20 2 Y front 5Hz-20kHz 0.005 Sony CDP-35 449 355x80x280 3.8 1 n n/a 2 n front 1 2Hz-20kHz 97 0.004 CDP-40 499 430x70x280 4.1 1 n n/a 2 n front 1 2Hz-20kHz 96 0.004 65k CDP-55 799 430x80x290 4.2 1 y 13 2 r front 2 2Hz-20kHz 98 0.003 65k CDP-65 799 355x80x290 3.9 1 y 35 2 Y front 1 2Hz-20kHz 96 0.004 65k CDP-7F 629 215x55x250 2 1 opt 13 2 y top 1 20Hz-20kHz 90 0.008 65k CDP-203ES 999 430x80x285 4.2 1 y 36 2 Y front 2 2Hz-20kHz 98 0.003 65k CDP502ES-2 1799 430x80x335 8.5 1 y 36 2 Y front 7 2Hz-20kHz 96 0.0025 65k CDP-303ES 1399 430x85x.5i5 6.8 Y 36 2 y front 2 2Hz-20kHz 96 0.003 65k 0-700 599 130x48x193 1.6 1 n n/a 1.6 Y front 20Hz-20kHz 85 0.0095 65K Technics SL-P50P 6999 430x200x530 19. 2 20Hz-20kHz >96 <0.005 65k at -0.5d8

SL-PSOOK 999 430x87x272 4.6 2 Y 27 2 Y front 2 4Hz-20kHz >102 <0.0012 65k at -0.2de SL-P300/K 719 430x77x265 4.2 2 Y 27 2 Y front 2 4Hz-20kHz >100 <0.0015 65k at -0.3dB SL-P100/K 599 430x77x265 4.2 2 n n/a 2 n front 2 4Hz-20kHz >100 <0.0015 65k at -0.3dB SL-PJ 11K 499 315x75x267 3.5 2 n n/a 2 n front 4Hz-20kHz >96 Z0.002 65k at -0.5dB Toshiba XR-30 499 420x80x309 4.1 3 n n/a 1 Y front 2 5Hz-20kHz >90 0.003 65k XR-V12 479 340x80x309 3.4 3 n n/a 1 Y front 2 5Hz-20kHz >90 0.003 65k 65k XR-J9 389 250x47x130 1.3 3 n n/a 1 y front 2 5Hz-20kHz >90 0.01 Yamaha CDX700 699 435x107x347 4.2 5 Y 20 y front 4 5Hz-20kHz 100 0.004 at -1d8 CDX500 599 435x107x347 4.2 5 Y 10 y front 2 5Hz-20kHz 100 0.004 at -1dB COX5 399 340x80x280 3 5 n n/a y front 2 5Hz-20kHz 100 0.004 at -1dB COX900* 999 437x107x347 6.5 5 Y 24 y front 4 dc-20kHz 110 0.003 1

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100 - ETI December 1986 r EMPLOYMENT Electronics Today International introduces the most cost effective method of recruiting technical staff - the ETI employment pages. The technically literate are scarcer than a laptop Cray, more valuable than gallium arsenide and about as hard to attract as deuterium to tritium nuclei! Reach them, talk to them, employ them through ETI. For as little as $225* you can reach 56,000 professionals, managers or skilled workerst, 29,000 technicianst, 7000 electronics engineerst and 5500 programmers/analystst. Which makes us the national publication for electronics employment advertising. For information and bookings call: Mark Lewis, Sydney (02) 693-6666 Virginia Salmon, Melbourne (03) 662-1222 Dane Hansen, Adelaide (08) 212-1212 Estelle de San Miguel (09) 481-3171 John Easton, Auckland 79-6648

Sixth of a page t Roy Morgan Research Centre Study If you're into computers you could have a job for life. If you're interested in the finer klt course of study, you qualify with a points of digital electronics and Diploma in Computer Engineering. computers, the computer industry Control Data is accepting needs you. enrolments now for their Computer Enrol now into Control Data Engineering courses in Sydney and Institute's Computer Engineering Melbourne. The demand for Control course and you could be working in tiff/ Data Engineering Graduates has never the ever-expanding computer industry been higher. in as little as 8 months. 0 For further information call Control Data Institute's flexible Control Data Institute now. You can will allow you attend special monthly free study programmes 1 to study full-time or part-time in t engineering information seminars or subjects such as Electronics, phone Wendy Mason in Sydney on Microprocessors, Mini Computers, (02) 4381300 or Sherrill Maconachie Data Communication, Terminals, in Melbourne on (03) 268 9666 for a Disk Drives, Line Printers and personal appointment. Machine Language Programming. Or if you choose, you can study CONTROL DATA individual subjects. át INSTITUTE You can even get exemptions if you have some experience in the YOUR CAREER BEGINS HERE An education service of Control I1ala Australia I'ty. Limited. electronics field. And at the end of your Burrows ltobte Lawrence CIJA IMO

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Your Computer has just taken the hassle To build better speakers out of buying a computer - one should always start with the better drivers. There are drivers, and there are drivers; finally, there are Dynaudio drivers. If your ears and ::' 0 your pleasure demand the ultimate in detailed -:r musical reproduction, then it is generally agreed that the starting point involves Danish J.f;Ó produced Dynaudio drivers. if Dynaudio drivers are used in some of the most esoteric speakers in the world. Names such as IIrit = VANDERSTEEN,SNELL, DUNTECH, CONRAD f11919rlHf4Uununru JOHNSTON, GOLD RIBBON and THIEL most uuurlr .72.7111.1 perfectly illustrate the point. .... One from the above list of 6 speakers is at the

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CECAM AT THE INDIANAPOLIS 500 Barrie Smith Problems For several years the network had tried to install cameras in the Indy cars, but been Long term expertise with mobile cameras has led TV station ATN prevented by the seemingly insurmountable problems of high temperatures, excessive in Sydney to export its brainchild to the US. The result is shock and vibration, interference from the Racecam. high energy ignition systems and lack of access to the cars' chassis. The track throws up grit and oil, and chunks of hot rubber - no friends of delicate lenses and the requirement for a ATN-7 SYDNEY first placed cameras in The race clear image. race cars competing in the James Hardie Each Memorial Day holiday the race draws Radio frequency wavebands were 1000 of 1979. In June of this year an a crowd of 400,000. The investment by crowded at the track, limiting radio control Australian team supplied the in -car cover- competing teams and sponsors is on a scale of Racecam's lens aperture, colour balance, age of the 1986 Indianapolis 500 for the understood only by America's Cup com- etc. Microwave links between the pro- American Broadcasting Company. petitors. The winner's prize is $3.5 m, plus duction crew and drivers were very limited, Geoff Healey, head of the Racecam another few million for the prestige. and subject to uncontrolled interference. development team, ATN-7 Sydney, de- Each year specialist UK car creators, such Because Healey's team were new to the scribed the challenges faced by the boys as March and Lola, design new models for scene, they went to the trouble of getting full from Epping and how they achieved the race. The hulls are built from carbon FCC licensing for their transmission. They success. fibre and aluminum honeycomb, and cost arrived at the track to find they were the "Mike Fisher, an engineer with the around $500,000 each. Power supply is the only ones 'legal', and caused enormous American Broadcasting Company, was overhead cam DFX Cosworth V8, with problems by operating over everybody's visiting Sydney for the 1984 Society of single turbocharger. Capacity is 161 cubic 'illegal' channels. Motion Picture and TV Engineers Confer- inches, weight in excess of 700 kg, with an The Machinists' Union's two entries ence. He saw the footage from one of, our output of 700-750 hp, exceeding the shove were using 12 UHF channels, which were Bathurst Racecams, and was suitably im- of Formula One cars. This year the drivers obliterated completely by one of Racecam's pressed. On his return to the US, he were lapping the four kilometre circuit at telemetry channels. "The Machinists' suggested to his sports department that we around 340 kph. To survive the 200 laps, Union were not at all happy -with this." be invited to tender for the next and afford the driver some measure of The team found that five weeks prior to Indianapolis 500. This event, like the protection from the track's horrendous the race was nowhere near enough for Bathurst, is carried live across the country." accident record, the cars are built very thorough preparation. Access to the cars was On 25 December, 1985, they had a deal. strong. very limited, as engines were often changed The camera system was redesigned from To ensure close competition the pro- at the last moment, parts arrived at the last the ground up, with the intention of moter, the United States Auto Club, fits minute and everything seemed in a state of enhancing the coverage of one of the each car's intake manifold with a pressure crisis. world's major one day sports events. Said limiting blow -off valve. When the turbo- Another major problem was caused by Healey: "It epitomizes the lengths the charger builds up manifold pressure this the position of the camera. There was a contemporary sports producer will go to in opens at a preset level controlling the engine conflict between the director's desire for the his efforts to present a more exciting power output. most effective camera angle and the aero- spectacle to his audience. It's an object The driver has a tube leading from this dynamics of the car. At the speeds achieved lesson in future trends in sports coverage valve into his helmet, so that he can hear at the Indy, aerodynamics are a critical possible with the new technologies becom- the valve operating. He drives at maximum determinant of the way the car handles. A ing available to the producer." throttle setting just before the valve blow - camera mounting can disturb the airflow In previous years the event had been off, ensuring he gets top speed and best fuel over the body, causing oversteer at speed. In broadcast as an edited one hour program, in consumption. He has a limited fuel supply extreme conditions it can cause the car to prime time, several hours after the end of available to him. lose traction. the race. For the first time a live telecast was Treated like Hollywood stars, the cars are The solution was to mould the cameras planned, with 30 cameras, 12 video re- maintained by full-time teams with enor- into the body of the car while they were corders, pre-recorded track sequences, com- mous budgets and backup behind them. As being built. In this way the most effective plex graphics and computer readouts of the Geoff Healey says: "They are state-of-the- camera angle could be achieved, while not race in progress. To this was added live art pampered beauties, polished up and re- detracting from the competitiveness of the audio and vision pickup from three compet- polished, doted over like no others in the car. The price to be paid was that the camera ing cars. world". at Indy, unlike the Bathurst mounts, was 104 - ETI December 1986 1

l Danny Sulli 's ..ttCar Is equipped with camera 4'the obi r q =airing behind t z drives. fixed looking fore and aft, and it could not about the body of the car to just the lens and on. pan or tilt. a single integrated circuit. In Sydney, considerable research and Safety was critical to all this, of course. It Using the latest in CCD technology, it testing on Racecam was done at the was essential to the design of the camera was possible to eliminate all the complex CSIRO's National Materials Handling Bu- and its mountings that the bits and pieces optical filter and splitters normally associa- reau. The camera's vibration isolating be able to withstand the forces of a major ted with a TV camera. The colour decoding mounts were developed, using the Bureau's smash without disintegrating. The speed of into red, green and blue is done via a filter shake table. The team was also helped by a the cars, and their proximity to the crowd, on the substrate of the chip itself. well known racing driver, with advice on make for a lethal mix. Indeed, the Indy cars From the camera the signal is taken to a specific excitation frequencies and wheel can turn a carelessly mounted camera into transmitter where it gets frequency modu- rotation velocities encountered in racing a low flying missile with ease. And this is lated at the standard ENG frequencies of cars. not an academic argument either. Crashes, about 2 GHz. The exact power, and indeed Mid -summer heat and high turbo exhaust and morgue wagons, are by no means rare the design of the transmitter is something temperatures were accommodated in ad- at Indy. Healey is coy about. It's less than 10 W, he vance by testing equipment and batteries in says, which is what the competition uses, the Bureau's environmental chamber. Inter- Solutions and uses some rather clever design tech- ference from ignition systems was re- Fortuitously, just as the need for a good niques to give reliable reception. The searched and prevention incorporated into Racecam was being realized, the first of the antenna is circularly polarized and enables the design by heavy screening with metal Charge Coupled Device (CCD) cameras the signal from the car to be transmitted up foil. came on to the market. They offer many of to a helicopter flying above. The Indy 500 track is roughly oval - the features required in a race camera The helicopter, carrying translating shaped, two straights 1200 metres long, and including solid state reliability, and most equipment, sends the signal down to an two shorter at 800 metres each. The track importantly, far greater immunity to vi- outside broadcast (OB) unit. At the OB area contains a golf course, a museum and bration than their tube -based competitors. unit, it's mixed in with other signals from garages for the cars. Metal is everywhere - Because of the level of integration of the the cars, cameras at trackside and in planes surrounding fences and high grandstands electronics, they are also small and light, and helicopters above the track. In the OB with tin roofs - making rf uplinks very reducing mounting problems to a mini- van, the picture the viewer will finally see is unpredictable. The director needed signals mum. assembled by the director and vision mixers at all times from all Racecam equipped cars, A commercially available camera was before being sent back to the main studio, wherever they might happen to be on the chosen after many tests. It offered 250 line usually by land -line, for distribution to the track. As Healey confessed, "This called for resolution, in the US standard TV format, rest of the network. some interesting microwave calculations". NTSC, with good colour rendition. How- There is also a down -link to the camera to Space in the cars was at a premium; in ever, it was considerably modified in the allow control by an operator at trackside. one car the transmitter was installed workshops. To reduce the size of the camera This telemetry, as it's called, was simplified beneath a driver's seat, and the communi- unit still further the optics and the imaging for Indy because there was no need to cation uplink placed in the car's nose cone, chip were located on the mounting. The rest control the panning and tilting of the a very vulnerable position. "We had to be of the video circuitry was placed elsewhere. camera. However, it's still necessary to prepared to write off microwave links," he This reduced the mounting protruding control black level, colour balance and so said. ETI December 1986 - 105 Ill II 1 lb 1 receive A FREE PRECISION and your chance to WIN A

CONDITIONS Of ENTRY

1. Ennrr. ce.e laa, rrW fso,w,y 27. 1997 2 Entry lo be baw 9912e e 40110491 by rawrnnnp a c444144e0 44441144404 Ca,d and paysrMN Eery a open b ooT na. and ,a.e.ai >uoe[nWra. 1 Eray e C991110 Y,asne.ns M 44s0a4 ode, M me empopaa ee0 orne Wro .>ynaes 01 The Fada9, Pw0y199 CO,npany PD' ltl 5n Daaeuw and eroa 550011's pwOtt.aln 99en9999 and 4. T1e oral. toa taae Martdl paw on .. 1997 and ce ~we, A Da r9919190 by nr9 ano dle eswo et Awatra4n oeWW,90 Tb ne.apepe, ate W2n 13, 1967. 5.0 a Mr awe ol vr rnagatrna. S Pnzvs nua tw we4. oaNrec a NW, a ro rase, >aemawe Rues roe nd varoNroe and Caron, be ~Al 01 57 nay &I TN vH.cM pR9 ot a O.,Vbu Cn.ede ~Wee 53 a.n>90 rose oraren911.0 and n1999apon wry oavap 7. fade,a, Pttlaeng aa 5,9,99 wNí.y d ee ,9.19de 9m1n ALL.ra4 .e+n me rowel o, tie tonne, 0144; e daam 01115,5 e raWaW "be 01 A.atra4. oep>rnef ee rwp.aptly ele wae, w a 9. Pawl No T C 1116 2203 4e,.a0 ue0a h Loner.. a.a M Urne,e ea 1901 gaees and 111990 Panes Bowe Pang No 861013 es.w0 on 1S9 86: ACT Pnmin No. TP99600 awed under N. Lodges OrOrunv. 1954 The Lu. a y .11 )

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ELMEASCO Talk to your local distributor about Fluke A.C.T. Actiec Ply Ltd (062) 80 6576 George Brown 80 4355 N.S.W. Ames Agency 699 4524 George Brown (02) 519 5855 Newcastle 69 6399 Bryan Cart Industries 526 2222 D.G.E. Systems (049) 69 1625 David Reid Instruments 267 1385 W F (049) Pig. Dixon 61 5628 Macelec Ltd. (042) 291455Ebson 7072111 Selectro Parts 7083244 Geoff Wood 427 1676 N.S.W. 15 McDonald St, N. TERRITORY Thew 8 McCann (089) 84 4999 OUEENSLAND L.E. Boughen 369 1277 Colourview Mortlake. Tel: (02) 736 2888 Wholesale 275 3188 Fred Hoe 8 Sons 277 4311 Nortek (077) 79 8600 VIC. 12 Maroondah St Lucia Electronics 52 7466 Hwy, Ringwood. Tel: (03) 879 2322 Selectro Parts (Old) 394 2422 S. AUSTRALIA Protronlcs 2123111 Trio Electnx 2126235 A W.M. Wholesale OLD. 192 Evans Rd, Salisbury. Tel: (07) 875 1444 TASMANIA George Harvey (003) 31 6533. (002) 34 2233 VICTORIA A.W.M Electrical Wholesale Radio Parts 329 7888 Telespares S.A. 241 Churchill Rd, Prospect. Tel: (08) G B. 328 3371 Browntronics 419 3986 R.K.B. Agency 82 7704 A.J Ferguson 347 6688 344 9000 SIRS Sales 78 1251 Mektronics 690 W.A. 46-48 Kings Pk Rd, (052) 4593 W. AUSTRALIA Atkins Carlisle 321 0101 Dobbie Instruments West Perth. Tel: (09) 481 1500 276 8888 Cairns Instrument Services 325 3144 Willis Trading 470 1118 When mainframe power gets this small, Du Pont -Electronics will have helped et it there. OQq r0? -A

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Du Pont technology has been helping electronic this technology led to improved solder masking which companies worldwide to develop smaller, more also increased circuit density and reliability. reliable and less costly The interconnection of products for over smaller and smaller 20 years. circuits is aided by

I For example, in 1964 Du Pont's connector Du Pont's thick film technology technology. One result of helped computer companies this technology is the develop a new, ceramic modular jack which links circuit which contributed keyboards and personal significantly to the reduced computers to data transmission networks. ' size and enhanced Du Pont's significant performance of computers. contributions often result Today, this technology ° from developmental permits instant "partnerships" in which communication between the most complex customers draw on Du Pont's unmatched resources to semiconductor devices for even greater solve problems faster and move into production miniaturization. quickly and reliably. Du Pont's photopolymer-based dry film Whether you need materials or components for technology enabled easier production of high -density, today's products or scientific resources to help create high -reliability printed wiring boards. More recently, tomorrow's, DU PONT can help.

Write to: Phone:

Du Pont Electronics 887 1333 in Sydney, or 22-25 Paul Street North from elsewhere in Australia North Ryde NSW 2113 (008) 22 6326 for the price of a local call. PONS ADMIWDUP 278 C DREGS

Stress

The British are a funny lot. The Dregs hack was browsing through a recent copy of New Scientist magazine, which reports the latest in British research, when he was struck by an article announcing the intentions of a group of researchers led by one Cary Cooper, who far from being a Hollywood stud, is a professor of organizational psychology at the University of Man- chester. It transpires that the holiday habits of his fellow Britons intrigues the said Cary, and so he has outfitted a number of them with telemeters which will allow a calculation of the amount of stress they endure. What Professor Cooper intends to prove is that going on holiday actually increases stress levels. If you want to reduce stress levels, stay at work. According to the researchers, it's no good trying to find a stress-free holiday, since that only makes matters worse. If you go a whole month without stress, you'll be so laid back by the time you report once again to the coal face, that you won't be able to work as well as usual. The scientists are also trying to research Y another holiday problem. Apparently, British holiday makers head off to Majorca, where the weather is more like an Austra- lian Christmas than an English one. The researchers say that hot blooded British couples, full of wine and food, are falling into bed in the early afternoon, not to have a sensible stress free siesta like the natives I. do, but to improve their interpersonal relationships. This, according to the report is a Bad Mistake. The British come out top for fatal heart attacks in Majorca, inspired it is said by over exertion. Eco paradise

Every cloud has a silver lining. According to Russian researchers the lake next to the Chernobyl power station is now the most polluted in the world. Presumably the fish are not happy. However, Russian ecologists are smiling, because they now have the world's greatest supply of radioactive r tracers. The Russians expect to become world leaders in the study of food chains and cycles, by following decay products from one animal to the next. A typical British couple: looking forward to the afternoon siesta. The news has not made pigeon fanciers lasting five minutes. any happier though. Apparently, the cated in one way or another. Now, in the In addition, you receive 100 pigeon's homing mechanism was affected US, it's been discovered that taking long hot times more of the chemical by breathing it in rather by the nuclear fallout and for a while there showers leads to greater exposure to toxic than drinking it. they were flying all over the place. chemicals in the water. The chemicals The situation is even worse than it evaporate out of the water and are inhaled, appears because one of the biggest toxigens Cancer both by the showeree and by people in the in US drinking water is chloroform, which rest of the house. has been shown to induce cancer in Does everything cause cancer? Following According to Dr Julian Andelman of the animals. According to the US environ- the news night after night one might be University of Pittsburg, levels of toxic mental protection agency, between 200 and forgiven for believing that there are few chemicals will be four times greater in a 1000 human cancer deaths are caused in human activities that don't seem impli- shower lasting ten minutes than in one this way every year. We just thought you'd like to know. 110 - ETI December 1986 60W SOLDERING/ S SYSTEM

I Illuminated Temp. readout monitors actual tip temperature. MINE Select the tip temp. required 3160 1.4114 Burnproof & Zero Voltage switching for 15917 LOCK flexible maximum component safety.

Ceramic encapsulated element for lowest earth leakage. Floating earth ° model 60 Watts available of back-up power with plug-in -30W Pencil optional. lead and clip.

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Cod SF 0.8/21 DF 0.8/22 DF 0.4/23 OF .6 24 DF 32/25 DF 1.2/26 SF 1.2/27 ZF 0.4/51 SF .6/56 SF 2.0/57 ZF 0.8/59 WANT MORE INFORMATION THEN CONTACT VICTORIA TAS. OLD. ELECTROTOOL (03) 848 1811 OHE ELECTRONIICS (003) 316533 1002) 34 2233 ST LUCIA (07) 52 7466 RADIO PARTS 103) 329 7888 103) 211 8122 (060) 21 8177 W.A. SOUTHPORT ELECTRONICS (075) 32 3632 BAS-AUDIOTRONICS (07) 44 7566 TELEPARTS (052) 21 7085 ATKINS CARLYLE (09) 481 1233 SCHOOL OF ELECTRONICS (031 288 7051 COVENTRY MOTOR REPLACEMENTS (09) 276 0111 COLOURVIEW (07) 275 3188 McGRATHS (03) 663 1122 DELSOUND (07) 839 6155 ALL ELECTRONICS (03) 662 3506 N.S.W. SOLE% ELECTRONICS (077) 72 2015 ELLISTRONICS (03) 561 5844 C.L.C. AGENCIES (02) 750 4005 STEVENS ELECTRONICS 1079) 51 1723 D. JH. COULTER (049) 671 455 SCOPE BALLARAT ELECTRONICS (053) 311 947 CAIRNS INSTRUMENTS (070) 51 1849 EBSON PTY. LTD. (02) 707 2111 ROBCO EQUIPMENT (077) 72 2633 ROA 63 NIOORIE. S.A. PROMARK ELECTRONICS (02) 439 6477 SELECTRO (07) 848 8197 VIC., 3042 GERRAD 8 GOODMAN (08) 269 1611 DAVID REID ELECTRONICS (02) 267 1385 TEL: 103) 338 1566 BEEJAY (08) 277 8499 SELECTRO PARTS (02) 708 3244 TLX: 44438318 GRAPHIC ELECTRONICS (08) 363 0277 T.V. PARTS (021 747 6707

JMS197 The Sony Disc Jockey lets you drive from Sydneyth Melbourne without ch. e 1 a disc.

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No other compact disc player for with your collection of music. And as it's stored in the boot it's also your car can play ten compact This means the only thing well protected from thieves. discs at the touch of a CDX-J10 11 on your dashboard is the You can find all the advantages button, continuously. . _ ,,z. \ controls. the Sony Disc Jockey has over ordinary NW, This one can even T y And on our flexible compact disc systems at your nearest play them in any cider stand even they can be Sony Dealer.

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Another advantage r The Disc Jockey is is that the Disc Jockey is well protected from heat SONY® kept in the boot along DiscJockey and vibrations. THE LEADER IN DIGITAL AUDIO. A000761/R