New Course: Electronics for Starters 25+ Pages of Test & Measurement
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The Complete Source for Electronics: PROJECTS, TECHNOLOGY and EMBEDDED January 2012 New course: Electronics for Starters 25+ pages of Test & Measurement www.elektor.com Exhaust Oxygen Level Tester Wideband Lambda Probe Interface Grid Frequency Monitor Tiny fluctuations evidenced by LEDs Wavelet Analysis + On a PIC32 development system US $ 7.95 - Canada $ 7.95 Colette, Annette, Babette, Georgette + Tubed portable radios from the 1950s Microcontrollers Development Platforms for Smartphone and Tablet Accessories Reduce Time to Market with Microchip Solutions Controllers Digital Signal Analog Memory Want to design and develop an accessory for smartphones or tablets? IT’S EASY TO GET STARTED! RF & Wireless The mobile device marketplace is exploding with ideas and opportunity. While much of the high-tech world has settled down into evolutionary • Visit www.microchip.com/android improvements, the mobile world offers the promise of entirely new uses • Purchase the PIC24F Accessory for ever smarter devices. Development Starter Kit for Android™ Microchip’s new PIC24F Accessory Development Starter Kit for Android™ consists of • Download the royalty-free, no-fee, a 16-bit PIC24 development board, a PICkit™ 3 In-Circuit Debugger and a royalty- licensed software library free, no fee licensed software library (available via download), which enables the fast and easy development of Android smartphone and tablet accessories based on • Contact [email protected] Microchip’s large portfolio of 16-bit and 32-bit PIC® microcontrollers (MCUs). for additional support Development Board Key Features: • PIC24F 16-bit PIC MCU with USB OTG • Type A USB connector © 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All rights reserved. rights reserved. All Incorporated. Technology © 2011 Microchip • User interface buttons • LEDs and potentiometer • Device charger circuitry up to 500 mA • I/O headers for prototyping and expansion PIC24F Accessory Development Starter Kit for Android Let Microchip’s PIC microcontroller-based development platforms help jump start (DM240415) your development of the next great accessory for remote control, home automation, financial transactions or portable medical devices. Development resources are also available for iPod®, iPhone® and iPad®. For more information, visit: www.microchip.com/MFI The Microchip name and logo, the Microchip logo and PIC are registered trademarks and chipKIT is a trademark of Microchip Technology Incorporated in the USA and other countries. Android is a trademark of Google. iPad, iPhone and iPod are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the United States and other countries. and other countries. States in the United Inc., registered of Apple trademarks are and iPod iPhone iPad, is a trademark of Google. Android in the USA and other countries. Incorporated Technology of Microchip trademarks and chipKIT is a trademark registered the Microchip logo and PIC are Microchip name and logo, The All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective companies. www.microchip.com/smartphone smartphone ad for Elektor.indd 1 7/25/2011 2:39:37 PM Naamloos-1 1 27-07-11 10:45 Naamloos-3 1 15-11-11 10:15 What’s for starters? LEDs and micros! Electronics is becoming increasingly complex and difficult to grasp in all its enormity. At least, that’s what we are told occasionally by our readers, usually in personal conversations like phone calls or with a cup of coffee at shows. 6 Colophon Over the past 50 years, electronics has Who’s who at Elektor. evolved, grown, expanded — whatever you want call it — at a terrific speed, 8 News & New Products resulting in a constant need for training A monthly roundup of all the latest in and refresher courses, just to stay up to electronics land. date. Over the years electronic circuits have 14 DesignSpark chipKITTM Design Chal- grown in size and complexity. If many lenge moons ago you could produce a project A new global electronics design with a handful of transistors and gates, competition brought to you by Circuit today you resort to some special IC that Cellar, Elektor and RS Components. requires a pile of datasheets to be read before you can even get started. Still, 16 Wideband Lambda Probe Interface that does not appear the main reason Link a lambda probe interface IC with a for many electronics fans, especially the microcontroller and you have a stand- older ones, for feeling lost in the prover- alone oxygen level meter for exhaust bial woods. gases. In reality the biggest stumbling block appears to be the acute combination of 24 Audio DSP Course (7) hardware and software. Many electron- This month we use our knowledge and ics engineers, from the very beginning, hardware to build a digital peak level have difficulty with programming and meter with some pretty advanced prefer to work with components only. For the younger generation, the oppo- features. site applies: they are totally at ease with 32 Grid Frequency Monitor programming, but find hardware design a difficult affair to say the least. Not The frequency of the AC power grid is surprisingly, today’s electronic circuits usually assumed to be very accurate and invariably seem to combine software stable, but is it? Let’s find out. and hardware, forcing you to be well 36 Mobile, Text, CallerID versed in both disciplines! To suit both newcomers and old hands, The Elektor ATM18 module gets old and young, subscribers and non-sub- connected to the cellphone network with scribers, this month we kick off a course excellent results. in basic electronics that goes back to the roots. Like: how to dimension simple 43 E-Labs Inside: Bat—batter—best! basic circuits; or how do certain com- The operation of the Elektor Bat Detector ponents work? Furthermore, in each can be substantially improved by using installment we show a piece of software directive microphones. that allows the subject discussed to be put into practice using a microcontroller 44 E-Labs Inside: rather than discrete parts. Hopefully the Radiation Meter: LEDs covered this month go down well mounting the sensor “for starters”. Here we elaborate on methods and materials to ensure the best operation Enjoy reading this edition, of the meter for alpha, beta and gamma Jan Buiting, Editor radiation. 4 01-2012 elektor Volume 4 January 2012 CONTENTS no. 37 16 Wideband Lambda Probe Interface 46 E-Labs Inside: This design marries a lambda probe interface IC with a microcontroller to pro- Debugging the debugger duce a stand-alone lambda measurement device. Built-in self calibration gives There’s an issue with the Microchip ICD3 hassle-free setup and ensures measurement accuracy. This flexible unit out- In Circuit Debugger 3 (ICD 3). Here’s how puts the lambda value both as an analog voltage level and as digital values us- we fixed it. ing a standard serial interface. 48 Here comes the Bus! (11) This month we discuss new PC software that simulates up to three freely programmable bus nodes. 54 Electronics for Starters (1) Welcome to our new course! We kick off 32 Grid Frequency Monitor with LEDs and diodes. The monitoring device described here detects tiny deviations in frequency with 58 Wavelet Analysis a range of just ±0.2 Hz, allowing you to keep an eye on the load on the AC power Here we examine how Mikroelektronika’s grid from any convenient socket. An array of LEDs is used for the readout. PIC32 development system can be used to analyze wavelet files. 64 Time/Interval Meter with ATtiny Very little is required in terms of hardware to make an accurate time/interval meter. 68 Design Tips Indoor/outdoor thermometer 36 Mobile, Text, CallerID Temperature stabilization Keep it warm With this project for the Elektor ATM18 module, all you have to do is either iden- tify yourself through the caller ID displayed to the ATM18 or go right ahead and 70 Retronics: send a text to your favorite board for it to take the appropriate action. Philips ‘Colette’ Portable Radio (1956) Series Editor: Jan Buiting 74 Hexadoku Elektor’s monthly puzzle with an electronics touch. 76 Gerard’s Columns: The Money Dance 54 Electronics for Starters (1) From our monthly columnist Gerard Fonte. In this series we get back to basics, and in electronics the basics are undisput- edly analog. However, we realize that many beginners are interested in digital 84 Coming Attractions technology too, so a microcontroller circuit is also included in the course mate- Next month in Elektor magazine. rial. We kick off with LEDs and diodes. elektor 01-2012 5 Elektor International Media provides a multimedia and interactive platform for everyone interested in electronics. From professionals passionate about their work to enthusiasts with professional ambitions. From beginner to diehard, from student to lecturer. Information, education, inspiration and entertainment. Analog and digital; practical and theoretical; software and hardware. analog • digital microcontrollers & embedded audio • test & measurement No. 37, JANUARY 2012 ISSN 1947-3753 Elektor is also published in French, Spanish, German and Graphic design / DTP: Giel Dols, Mart Schroijen Dutch. Together with franchised editions the magazine is on Elektor aims at inspiring people to master electronics circulation in more than 50 countries. Publisher: Hugo Van haecke at any personal level by presenting construction projects ([email protected]) and spotting developments in electronics International Editor: and information technology. Wisse Hettinga ([email protected]) Marketing: Carlo van Nistelrooy Editor: Jan Buiting ([email protected]) Customer Services: [email protected] Elektor (ISSN 1947-3753) is published monthly (except International editorial staff: Harry Baggen, for one issue in July/August) at $39.95 per year, Canada Thijs Beckers, Eduardo Corral, Ernst Krempelsauer, add $11.00 per year; Subscriptions: Jens Nickel, Clemens Valens by Elektor International Media LLC, Elektor US, 4 Park Street, Vernon, CT 06066, USA. 4 Park Street, Vernon, CT 06066, USA. Design staff: Christian Vossen (Head), Phone: 860-875-2199, Fax: 860-871-0411 Phone: 860-875-2199, Fax: 860-871-0411.