VOLUME 21 No.1 JANUARY 1985

CONSTRUCTIONAL PROJECTS John M. H. Becker .. .. .. 10
Part One: Effects and circuit description

CAR COMPUTER-Part 2 by S.H. Cousins BSc PhD and P. D. Wilson BEng .. .. .. 24 Construction, installation and setting-up

NEPTUNE AND MENTOR ROBOTS by Richard Becker and Tim Orr . .. . .. 34
Part Five: Component list and p.c.b. layouts for Mentor

RADAR SECURITY ALARM-Part 2 .. 49
Build this project and be secure-Improved transmitter design

MICROCOMPUTER "WATCHDOG" TIMER by Tom GaskelI BA(Hons) CEng MIEE .. 61
Warning system for computers

GENERAL FEATURES

SEQUENTIAL LOGIC TECHNIQUES by M. Tooley BA and D. Whitfield MA MSc CEng MIEE .. 18
Part Four: Psuedo random numbers and shift registers

LASERS AND HOLOGRAMS by Richard Barron 30
An enLiGHTening feature on LASERs and Holograms

INGENUITY UNLIMITED .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 40
Readers' circuit ideas - video timer interface - wide range high current supply - bar-graph display - accented beat metronome - dual LED logic probe - electronic dice

CELLULAR RADIO by Barry Fox .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 44
Direct-dialling from your car or handphone

SEMICONDUCTOR CIRCUITS by Tom Gaskell BA (Hons) CEng MIEE .. 59
Programmable Delay Timer (LS7210)

SPACEWATCH by Dr. Patrick Moore OBE .. .. .. .. .. 58

NEWS & COMMENT

EDITORIAL 7
INDUSTRY NOTEBOOK .. 17
LEADING EDGE .. 64
NEWS & MARKET PLACE .. 8
SPECIAL OFFER .. .. 27
STRICTLY INSTRUMENTAL 66
VERNON TRENT .. 54
BAZAAR .. 16, 33
P.C.B. SERVICE .. 57
MICROBUS 67

THIS MONTHS COVER Internal 'anatomy' of the Stereo/Mono Chorus & Flanger project. Our inset photograph shows a British Telecom technician checking for Laser radiation emission. This month's article, LASERS & HOLOGRAMS explains how they are created and what they are used for.

OUR FEBRUARY ISSUE WILL BE ON SALE FRIDAY, JANUARY 4th, 1985 (see page 28)

VOLUME 21 No. 2 FEBRUARY 1985

CONSTRUCTIONAL PROJECTS

MODULAR AUDIO POWER SYSTEM-Part 1 by M. Tooley BA and D. Whitfield MA MSc CEng MIEE.. 10
Main power amp module

SPECTRUM DAC/ADC BOARD by R. A. Penfold .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 15
Interface board for control applications

MICROPROCESSOR CONTROLLED D.C. MOTOR DRIVERS by Tom GaskelI BA(Hons) CEng MIEE.. 31
Enables analogue driving of d.c. motors

SIGNAL GENERATOR & F-V CONVERTER by John M. H. Becker .. .. .. .. .. 34
Quality test instrument

NEPTUNE AND MENTOR ROBOTS by Richard Becker and Tim Orr .. .. .. .. .. 49
Part Six: Commissioning and testing of Neptune

MONO/STEREO CHORUS & FLANGER by John M. H. Becker .. .. .. .. .. .. 59
Part Two: Construction and setting up

GENERAL FEATURES

MICROWRITER by Tom Gaskell BA(Hons) CEng MIEE .. .. .. .. .. .. 22
An ingenious six-key alternative to the QWERTY keyboard

SEMICONDUCTOR CIRCUITS by Tom Gaskell BA (Hons) CEng MIEE .. .. .. .. .. 28
Power Op-Amps TCA 365 and TCA 2365)

SPACEWATCH by Dr. Patrick Moore OBE .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 40

INGENUITY UNLIMITED .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 42
Readers circuit ideas - thermistor thermometer - logic recorder - zx spectrum buffered input port (6 bit) - DIN lead tester

SEQUENTIAL LOGIC TECHNIQUES by M. Tooley BA and D. Whitfield MA MSc CEng MIEE .. .. 55 Part Five: Data multiplexers

NEWS & COMMENT

EDITORIAL .. 7
BAZAAR .. 18, 48
MICROBUS .. .. 65
NEWS & MARKET PLACE .. .. 8
INDUSTRY NOTEBOOK .. 21
VERNON TRENT .. 67
LEADING EDGE .. 25
P.C.B. SERVICE .. 68

THIS MONTH'S COVER-..
Our cover photograph shows silicon wafers in a furnace during the production of integrated circuits. Photograph courtesy of National Semiconductor.

OUR MARCH ISSUE WILL BE ON SALE FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1st, 1985 (see page 4l)

VOLUME 21 No.3 MARCH 1985

CONSTRUCTIONAL PROJECTS

HEART BEAT MONITOR by P. Leah 10
Digital readout of your heart beat

AUTO SHUT-DOWN MULTIPLE REGULATOR by Tom Gaskell BA (Hons) CEng MIEE .. .. 18
Monitor system for a three rail power supply

LOW COST BBC SPEECH SYNTHESISER by A. Foord .. .. .. 31
Effective speech synthesis for the Beeb

MODULAR AUDIO POWER SYSTEM-Part 2 by M. Tooloy BA and D. Whitfield MA MSc CEng MIEE.. 40
Dummy Load; Pre-amp; Mixer and Tone Controls

NEPTUNE AND MENTOR ROBOTS by Richard Becker and Tim Orr .. .. .. 48
Part Seven: Commissioning and testing of Mentor

GENERAL FEATURES

SEMICONDUCTOR CIRCUITS by Tom Gaskell BA(Hons) CEng MIEE .. 17
Quad Supply and Line Monitor (UC 3903)

MARS ELECTRONICS by Richard Barron .. .. .. .. .. .. 22
Computer applications and control in industry

INGENUITY UNLIMITED .. .. .. . .. .. .. 26,50
Readers' circiut ideas - shop counter bell - electronic seismograph

BBC MICRO FORUM by D. Whitfield MA MSc CEng MIEE .. .. .. 36
A scintillating cauldron of new ideas for BBC wizards

SPACEWATCH by Dr. Patrick Moore OBE .. 52

SEQUENTIAL LOGIC TECHNIQUES by M. Tooley BA and D. WhitfieldMA MSc CEng MIEE .. 54
Part Six: De-.multiplexing and time domain multiplexing

NEWS & COMMENT

EDITORIAL 7
BAZAAR 16
INDUSTRY NOTEBOOK 59
NEWS & MARKET PLACE 8
SPECIAL OFFER 28
P.C.B. SERVICE 60
LEADING EDGE 39

OUR APRIL ISSUE WILL BE ON SALE FRIDAY, MARCH 1st, 1985 (see pege 35)

VOLUME 21 No. 4 APRIL 1985

CONSTRUCTIONAL PROJECTS

POWER CONTROL INTERFACE by R. A. Penfold .. 10
Proportional mains control up to 10A

DISC DRIVE PSU hby J. R. W. Barnes - 18
Power for second BBC disc drive

MODULAR AUDIO POWER SYSTEM-Part 3 by M. Tooley BA and D. Whitfield MA MSc CEnq MIEE -. 23
Powersupply and test signal source

RUGBY CONTROLLED CLOCK-Part 1 by Stephen Ibbs 47
A receiver and decoder for the Rughy time signal

POWER SUPPLY WATCHDOG by Tom GaskeII BA(Hons) CEng MIEE 58
An over and under voltage warning system

GENERAL FEATURES

SEQUENTIAL LOGIC TECHNIQUES by M. Tooley BA and D. Whitfield MA MSc CEng MIE - 14
Part Seven: Binary full adders index to the series

SPACEWATCH by Dr. Patrick Moore OBE 28

PRINTER BUYER'S GUIDE 30
An introduction to printer specifications plus a comprehensive buyer's guide

BBC MICRO FORUM by D. Whitfield MA MSc CEng MIEE 40
A scintillating cauldron of new ideas for BRC wizards

SEMICONDUCTOR CIRCUITS by Tom Gaskell BA(Hons) CEng MIEE 56
Programmable voltage detectors ICL8211CPA and ICL8212CPA

NEWS & COMMENT

EDITORIAL .. 7
SPECIAL OFFER .. 26
INDUSTRY NOTEBOOK .. 52
NEWS & MARKET PLACE .. 8
BAZAAR .. 29
VERNON TRENT .. 54
LEADING EDGE .. 44
P.C.B. SERVICE .. 60

This month's cover shows a digitised photograph, designed and created by Alex Kempkens, of a National Semiconductor 32-bit microprocessor. The Series 32000 Family from National includes the first commercially available 32-bit c.p.u.

OUR MAY ISSUE WILL BE ON SALE FRIDAY, APRIL 4th, 1985 (see page 43)

VOLUME 21 No.5 MAY 1985

CONSTRUCTIONAL PROJECTS

AMSTRAD SYNTHESISER INTERFACE by H. A. Penfold .. .. .. .. 10
1000 note, 5 octave sequencer-computer project

STEREO NOISE GATE & VCA by John M. H. 8ecker .. .. .. .. 14
Reduces noise for musicians and home studio recording

REMOTE SENSING THERMOMETER by Tom Gaskell BA(Hons) CEng M!EE .. .. .. . 22
A 3.5 digit electronic thermometer

TELEPRINTER INTERFACE by B. Drake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Low cost letter quality prints from your computer

CYLINDER THERMOSTAT by Mark Stuart .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 38
Enables economic use of hot water system

RUGBY CONTROLLED CLOCK-Part 2 by Stephen Ibbs . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Construction and setting up procedures

GENERAL FEATURES

SEMICONDUCTOR CIRCUITS by Tom Gaskell BA(Hons) CEng M!EE . . .. .. .. .. 19
Temperature sensor (LM35)

SPACEWATCH by Dr. Patrick Moore OBE .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 24

ELECTRONICS AT THE BBC by Chris Kelly .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 32
Inside the VAX 11/750 and the Quantel 7001 (Paintbox)

BBC MICRO FORUM by D. Whitfie!d MA MSc CEng MIEE .. .. .. .. .. .. 44
We pop a numerical keypad into the cauldron

BBC MICRO PRINTER SOFTWARE by Michael Tooley BA & David Whitfield MA MSc CEng MIEE .. 46
We look at two dedicated printer ROMs

NEWS & COMMENT

EDITORIAL .. 7
NEXT MONTH .. .. 37
LEADING EDGE .. . 58
NEWS & MARKET PLACE 8
BAZAAR .. . .. 49
P.C.B. SERVICE .. .. 59
INDUSTRY NOTEBOOK 50

This month's cover shows details of a probe card in use at Motorola's East Kilbride facility.

OUR JUNE ISSUE WILL BE ON SALE FRIDAY, MAY 3rd, 1985 (see page 3l)

VOLUME 21 No6 JUNE 1985

CONSTRUCTIONAL PROJECTS

'RUR' HOBBY ROBOT by Ralph P Maqee 10

Part One: The metalwork and mechanics

ANALOGUE/DIGITAL WAVEFORM GENERATOR by Tom Gaskell BA (Hons) CEng MIEE 22

Simultaneous analogue and digital output signals

CBM64 MUSIC KEYBOARD by R. A. Penfold - 26

Add a keyboard to your Commodore and really play it!

DIGITAL DELAY & SOUND SAMPLER WITH COMPUTER INTERFACE by John M. H. Becker 40

Part One: Delay techinques and circuit operation

LOW COST BBC SPEECH SYNTHESISER UPDATE 49

Software end hardware modifications

GENERAL FEATURES

MODEMS by M. TooIey BA & D. Whitfield MA MSc CEng MIEE 14

Part One: The basic principles of micro communication

SEMICONDUCTOR CIRCUITS by Tom Gaskell BA(Hons) CEng MIFE 19

Data Convertor (ZN435)

SPACEWATCH by Dr. Patrick Moore OBE - 32

BBC MICRO FORUM by D. Whitfield MA MSc CEng MIEE 34

Numeric keypad, and Real time Clock hardware

SPEECH 64 REVIEW by R. A Peofold 37

The Currah unit investigated

INGENUITY UNLIMITED 39

Readers' circuit ideas

NEWS & COMMENT

EDITORIAL 7

NEWS & MARKET PLACE 8

INDUSTRY NOTEBOOK 24

BAZAAR 33

STRICTLY INSTRUMENTAL 50

P.C.B. SERVICE 52

OUR JULY ISSUE WILL BE ON SALE FRIDAY, JUNE 7th, 1985 (see page3l)



VOLUME 21 No.7 JULY 1985

CONSTRUCTIONAL PROJECTS

MTX 8-CHANNEL A toD CONVERTER by R.A. Penfold 11
Analogue measurements using the Memotech MTX

HI Fl STEREO VCA SYSTEM by Tom Gaskell BA(Hons) CEng MIEE 16
General purpose circuit for the most demanding applications

INCREASING LAMP LIFE by E. W. Hunter 20
Extend the life of projector or photoflood lamps and save money

VOLTMETER MEMORY ADAPTOR by Jan Erik Borqe 28
Multimeter add-on for tricky measurements

DIGITAL DELAY & SOUND SAMPLER WITH COMPUTER INTERFACE by John M. H . Becker .. 44
Part Two Delay selection, master clock oscillator and address counter

GENERAL FEATURES

SEMICONDUCTOR CIRCUITS by Tom Gaskell BA (Hons) CEng MIEE . . . 14
Voltage ControIled Amplifier (dbx 2150A) .. 21

BBC MICRO FORUM by D. Whitfield MA MSc CEng MIEE . . 24
Real-time clock software and Book Corner

ROBOTICS REVIEW by N. Clark .. 27
New regular look at robots and cybernetics

SPACEWATCH by Dr Patrick Moore OBE . . . . . . . . 30

MODEMS by M. Tooley BA & D. Whitfield MA MSc CEng MIEE . . . . . 32
Part two: Design techniques and circuit elements. BT ''Approved Design'' spec.

WHY FIBRE OPTICS? by Eric Hoffman . . 40
How it works and a report on the EDU-LINK kit

INGENUITY UNLIMITED . . . 50
Readers circuit ideas - intelligent level crossing warning lights controller - 7-segment logic probe

NEWS & COMMENT

EDITORIAL .. 7
INDUSTRY NOTEBOOK .. 19
BOOK REVIEWS .. 38
NEWS & MARKET PLACE .. 8
NEXT MONTH .. 23
LEADING EDGE .. 49
BAZAAR .. 31,43
P.C.B. SERVICE .. 52

'RUR' HOBBY ROBOT--2 We regret that due to circumstances beyond our control Part Two of RUR will not he published until next month

This month's cover shows a cluster of probes monitoring a thin-film circuit while nichrome resistors are trimmed to a tolerance of closer than five hundredths of a per cent - courtesy of Mullard.

OUR AUGUST ISSUE WILL BE ON SALE FRIDAY, JULY 5th, 1985 (see page 23)

(VOLUME 21 No.8 AUGUST 1985 is missing)
(VOLUME 21 No.9 SEPTEMBER 1985 is missing)


VOLUME 21 No.10 OCTOBER 1985

CONSTRUCTIONAL PROJECTS

BYTEBOX by Ray Stuart 10
Part One: System concept and design-- facilitates 16 "sideway" ROMs for the Beeb

TOUCH CONTROL PSU by R A Penfold28
Novel power supply with a very practical application

MODULATED SYNDRUM by R. A. Penfold 32
Be a big hit with this music project

EXPERIMENTING WITH ROBOTS by Mike Abbott 46
Puart two: Constructing the five channel interface

GENERAL FEATURES

INTRODUCTION TO MICROPROCESSOR SYSTEMS 20
Part One: Basic terms and concepts

ROBOTICS REVIEW by Nigel Clark 26
A regular look at robotics and cybernetics

SPACE WATCH by Dr Patrick Moore 38

INGENUITY UNLIMITED 40
Readers' circuit ideas - telephone bell ringer

lVAX REVIEW by Phil Dane 42
Details of an advanced SCARA design which has four axes of movement

BBC MICRO FORUM by D. Whitfield MA MSc CEng MIEE 50
Secrets of the analogue port

NEWS S COMMENT

EDITORIAL 7
INDUSTRY NOTEBOOK 16
NEXT MONTH 27
NEWS & MARKET PLACE 8
READOUT 18
BOOK REVIEWS 36
BAZAAR 19
P.C.B. SERVICE 52

This months front cover picture shows the National Semiconducior 32 bit microprocessor smashing a "memory barrier" formed by a floppy disc. Courtesy of National Semiconductor.

OUR NOVEMBER ISSUE WILL BE ON SALE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4th, 1985 (see page 27)

VOLUME 21 No.11 NOVEMBER 1985

CONSTRUCTIONAL PROJECTS

MODEL RAILWAY TRACK CONTROL by J. Milne 10

Power Crazy? Control up to 144 points via a single pair of wires

BYTEBOX by Ray Stuart 26

Part Two: System construction and installation-optional extras

EXPERIMENTING WITH ROBOTS by Mike Abbott 42

Part Three: Squint

DISCO LIGHTS CONTROLLER by John M. H. Becker 45

Versatile effects unit with optional facilities, including computer control and chaser sequencer

COMMODORE USER PORT EXPANDER by R. A. Penfold 50

Enables many add-ons to be inter-faced with CBM64 or VIC-20

GENERAL FEATURES

ROBOTICS REVIEW by Nigel Clark 18

A regular look at robotics and cybernetics

INTRODUCTION TO MICROPROCESSOR SYSTEMS 20

by Michael Tooley BA and David Whitfield MA MSc CEng MIEE

Part Two: Practical aspects of a micro system

21 YEARS OF ELECTRONICS by Fred Bennett 32

Part One: Our 21st Birthday issue traces our progress-the first fourteen years

SPACE WATCH by Dr Patrick Moore OBE 40

BBC MICRO FORUM by D. Whitfield MA MSc CEng MIEE 55

The Analogue Port Light Pen input is expiscated

NEWS & COMMENT

EDITORIAL 7

NEWS & MARKET PLACE 8

LEADING EDGE 16

BAZAAR 41

NEXT MONTH 57

P.C.B. SERVICE 58

READOUT 52

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE 58

 

VOLUME 21 No.12 DECEMBER 1985

CONSTRUCTIONAL PROJECTS

EXPERIMENTING WITH ROBOTS by Mark Stuart 10

High performance stepping motor driver

DISCO LIGHTS CONTROLLER by John M H. Becker 24

Part Two: The Chaser' circuit, and interwiring details

MODEL RAILWAY TRACK CONTROL by J. Mime 32

Part Two: Final construction and testing

MICRO-SCOPE by John M. H. Becker 42

Part One: Make an oscilloscope out of a micro

GENERAL FEATURES

INTRODUCTION TO MICROPROCESSOR SYSTEMS by Michael Tooley BA and David Whittield MA MSc CEng MIEE 16

Part Three: Getting started-initialisation and configuring peripherals

ROBOTICS REVIEW by Nigel Clark 20

A regular look at robotics and cybernetics

SPACEWATCH by Dr. Patrick Moore OBE 22

HALLEY'S COMET by Dr. Patrick Moore OBE 28

If you miss this you'll have to wait till 2061

BBC MICRO FORUM by D. Whitfield MA MSc CEng 36

Improved light pen and software

21 YEARS OF ELECTRONICS by Mike Kenward 38

Part Two: The past seven years plus forthcoming trends

NEWS & COMMENT

EDITORIAL 7

INDUSTRY NOTEBOOK 15

P.C.B. SERVICE 48

NEWS & MARKETPLACE 8

BAZAAR 23

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE 48

LEADING EDGE 46

INDEX FOR VOL. 21 51

 

Send this page address - CLICK HERE - to a friend !