| |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
A: Once a month, ie, there are 12 issues per year.
A: The print edition goes on sale in the last week of the month prior to the cover date. Expect postal delivery of subscription copies in Australia by the middle of the month of issue (although most subscribers will get their magazines by the end of the previous month). The online edition is released, in full, around the same time that the print issue goes on sale.
A: Yes, you will find both print and online subscriptions in our shop. If you are an existing print subscriber and have never logged into the website before, you will need to set up a password which you can do here. If you are not an existing print subscriber then you can sign up for an account on the website (it's free) and then purchase a print subscription via the shop.
A: Besides Silicon Chip, we hold the copyright to the following historic magazines:
A: There are three ways to get PDFs of our magazine issues. From January 2020 onwards, online (or combined) subscriptions give access to PDF downloads for those issues. If you purchase an online issue as a separate item through our online shop, that also gives you PDF download access for that issue. Or you can purchase PDFs of our magazines at a discounted rate in blocks of 60+ here. By purchasing the blocks, you will receive them on a USB flash drive and will also have online and PDF download access through our website as soon as we start processing the order.
Once you have access to download a PDF of a particular issue, there are two ways to do it. Either click on the Issues menu (or Issues -> Browse) and then click the "Download PDF" button which appears at the bottom of a given issue cover. Or when reading the online issue, a "Download Issue PDF" link should appear in the bar at the left-hand side of the screen.
A: You get access to the issues for the dates that you subscribe. For example, if you sign up for a 12 month online subscription starting in January 2013, then you get access to all twelve issues published during 2013, including immediate access to any which have already been published.
For access to older issues, you will need to purchase back-issues which are discounted for active subscribers (by 10%). You can also purchase back-issues while subscribing to receive the same discount.
Another way to get discounted access to past online issues is to back-date an online subscription (ie, starting from a past issue). This gives you access to a continuous block of issues and the more you purchase, the lower the per-issue cost becomes.
If you are or have been a print subscriber, you can also upgrade your print subscription to a combined subscription, which costs less than purchasing the equivalent set of online issues.
A: Normally before the end of the month prior to their date of issue (eg, the May issue should be online before the end of April). Some issues may be delayed slightly when the first fall on a weekend or public holiday.
A: The best way to do this is using downloaded PDFs as per the answer above. However, our online viewer uses HTML5 features which should be available on all mobile browsers. The usual zoom and pan functions should be available and the magazine is shown in single or double-page spread format, depending on whether the device is in portrait or landscape orientation. On devices with smaller screens, zooming will be required for readable text.
A: Not any more. The online viewer now requires just HTML5 and JavaScript support.
A: First, try full-screen mode. Click on the "Full Screen" button at the lower-left corner of the issue. If that doesn't work, try pressing the F11 key.
In full screen mode, the header at the top of the window disappears and the magazine should fill the height of your screen.
You can also zoom in. Use the mouse scroll wheel while holding down control. Rolling it up zooms in and down zooms out. Or on touchscreen devices, use two fingers to zoom in and out in the usual manner. On a computer, you can use the page up/page down keys to move through the magazine and home/end to jump to the front/back cover.
A: Our website is designed to work with any modern web browsers. We have tested it with Firefox, Edge, Safari and Chrome. For more information, see here. Check that cookies and JavaScript are enabled for the site to work as properly.
For a good experience, you will also need a reasonably large screen. The lowest resolution where text is legibile in full-screen mode is 1024x768 pixels but ideally, a resolution of 1600x1024 or higher should be used when viewing online issues. A 4K monitor is ideal.
A: There are a few ways to flip to the next or previous spread. You can click on the sides of the display, or use the arrow keys on your keyboard (left/page up to go back, right/page down to go forward).
A: You can either use the back arrow on your web browser or else click on the Silicon Chip logo in the upper-left corner of the screen, which always take you back to the front page.
A: Yes, there is a print button in the upper-right corner.
A: Effectively, yes. There are only two differences: (1) online editions will have some or all errata already fixed and (2) older issues may be missing some full-page ads.
A: No. Once you have bought an online issue, it's yours and you will continue to have access to it. The same applies to PDF downloads. You can re-download an issue you have access to at any time.
A: No, although for a small price, you can upgrade your subscription to include the online edition as well. Once you have arranged for a login (see below), you can find the upgrade in our shop.
A: If you have a print subscription, you can upgrade it to a combined subscription. This costs around $20 for each year that your print subscription has run and gives you online access to all the same issues that you have already received printed copies of. If you want to, you can then extend your subscription via the normal process for renewing combined subscriptions.
If you already have an online subscription, it's the same in reverse - upgrade and we'll send you the printed copies of the issues you've received through your online subscription (assuming we still have them in stock).
An upgrade is not a renewal and it does not affect your subscription expiry date. If you want to extend/renew your subscription, that is a separate option.
A: Yes, all issues on the website provide a free preview for everybody. Simply select "Browse" from the Issues menu and select the issue you want to view. In most cases, you can read the first page or opening spread of each feature article in the magazine. To read more, you need to purchase the issue. As for PDF downloads, you can see a preview of the quality that you can expect for each range of issues at this link.
A: No, if you want to read an article you need to purchase the issue.
A: It varies but generally about 15-50MB per issue. Previews are a bit smaller.
A: All our issues, from the vary start in November 1987 are now available and all future issues will be published online.
A: You might need to increase the maximum size of files that will be cached by your browser, via the preferences or settings. Most issues are small enough to fit in the browser cache, but some are larger than others.
For Firefox, you can fix this by typing "about:config" into the address bar and after dismissing the warning, double-clicking on the entry "browser.cache.disk.max_entry_size". Double click on this value and change it to "80000". That should be large enough to cache the largest issues in high resolution. You may also want to increase the maximum total cache size ("browser.cache.disk.capacity", in kilobytes) to allow it to keep more issues cached.
For Chrome, there doesn't appear to be any way to control the maximum cached object size and the only way to change the total cache size is via a commandline argument.For Safari and Edge, the situation is similar to Chrome - there does not appear to be any setting to control the size of the maximum objects cached or the total cache size itself.
A: Yes, you will need cookies enabled (at least for the siliconchip.com.au domain) to be able to log in or add items from the shop to your trolley. You will also need to enable JavaScript for most pages to work correctly.
A: Check that you haven't disabled cookies (see above).
A: When a user logs in to our website they occupy one of the allocated user 'slots'. A customer with a 3-user license has three slots. These are freed if that user logs out.
If a user tries to log in and all the slots for that customer are in use, the system looks at how recently they have been active on the website. If an inactive user is occupying a slot, they are automatically logged out and the new user takes that slot. If all slots are active, the new user can not log in and a message is displayed indicating the IP address of each user occupying the slots.
Users are considered inactive if they have not fetched any pages from the site in the last 15 minutes (if they have viewed any online issues since they logged in) or five minutes (if they have not viewed any issues).
We can also provide customers with IP-range based automatic log in so that any computer accessing our website from within the customer's network will automatically be allocated one of these slots and immediately be able to access the full online issues.
Otherwise, multi-user subscriptions work just like single-user subscriptions, ie, access is to the range of issues that have been paid for and this access never expires.
You will need to contact us if you want multi-user access or IP-range based automatic log in. Multi-user pricing is available on the subscription pricing page.
A: Check that cookies are enabled in your browser and that your computer's clock is set to the correct time and you have set up the right time zone. If your clock is showing the wrong time, this could prevent you from logging in.
A: Locate the first item you are interested in and then click on the "Add to Trolley" button. You can add multiple items to the trolley before you commit to purchase them and you will be given the opportunity to remove (cancel) items or change the quantities before payment. Once you have added all the items you want, click on the shopping trolley item in the upper-right corner of the screen. Check that all the items you want are listed and in the correct quantities. If not, you can remove items, update quantities or go back to the shop to add more items.
Before you can pay for the items, you will either need to log into your account or sign up for one. This is because we need to know your address (in case there are items to be delivered) and so on. Once you've logged into your account, the items in the trolley will be transferred to your account.
You can then go to the Trolley, click on the Check Out button and you can then select the payment method (PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, Direct Deposit). Once you have put in the payment details, your order will be confirmed and you will receive an e-mail detailing your order. You will receive another e-mail once your order has been sent.
A: No. Once you have paid for a download, it's yours and you will continue to have access to it, for example, if you lost the copy you downloaded you can simply download it again.
A: Not if you are an active subscriber (print or online) or have purchased the relevant article in an online issue or printed back-issue*. In this case, all you need to do is log in and you will get the downloads for free. Otherwise, a nominal fee applies and these downloads can be purchased in the same manner as other items in our shop.
Note that in some cases, when you buy a physical item from the shop such as a PCB, you may also get some free downloads with it (eg, panel label artwork).
* The associated downloads become available once the printed issue has been sent; you will be notified of this by e-mail unless you opt out of the order updates.
A: No, although you may find it convenient to do so. Alternatively, call our office telephone number or send us a fax
A: They are in the shop, generally listed under the PCB Pattern or Software categories. You can also find them linked in the sidebar when viewing the online issue or the free preview. Some are free and some must be purchased to download.
A: We don't charge for new downloads as of late 2019. Earlier downloads may require payment; they generally cost $3 each. But active subscribers get all downloads for free. You can also get the downloads for an issue for free by purchasing that issue through this website. That includes purchases of both print and online back-issues as well as subscriptions, ie, if you bought issues via a subscription you get perpetual access to free downloads for those issues, as long as you are logged into the website.
A: Currently, you can pay for orders using Visa, MasterCard, PayPal or direct deposit/EFT. For credit cards, the card is charged immediately if the order contains a subscription or online issue. Otherwise, we charge the card when we send the first package.
A: Products are normally sent via Australia Post; regular mail within Australia (parcel or print post, depending on the item) and Airmail for international orders. We mail out twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays and we attempt to send orders at the next possible opportunity once the order is received and the goods are in stock.
If you place an order within Australia where some of the goods are in stock but some are not, we will often send out what we have in stock immediately but we cannot guarantee this. In some cases, we will wait until we can complete the order in a single parcel.
A: Defective products can be returned either for replacement with another identical item or for a full refund. Please contact us if you need to return an item.
A: Currently we only sell a handful of kits, for those projects where retailers have elected not to supply a kit, and we believe there will be strong demand. We can also supply PCBs for our recent projects and programmed microcontrollers for almost any projects we have published. Kits are normally supplied by a third party such as Jaycar Electronics, Altronic Distributors or Oatley Electronics.
A: Check the websites of the following retailers: Jaycar Electronics or Altronic Distributors.
A: It's up to the third party retailers whether they want to produce a kit for any given project. Inevitably this means there will be no kits for some projects and even when a kit is produced, it will eventually be discontinued.
As such, we stock PCBs for virtually all projects from January 2011 onwards, and selected PCBs for the more popular, earlier projects. Check our shop for PCB(s) and if necessary, a pre-programmed microcontroller. Any parts that we sell which are relevant to a project are listed alongside the issue/preview when you view those pages.
A: See above; we sell PCBs for all our recent projects and some older ones too. In cases where we do not stock a PCB, it's possible that Jaycar and/or Altronics have a kit for that project. If not, Practical Electronics magazine in the UK (also known as PE) may sell the board; check their website at www.electronpublishing.com/product-category/pe-pcb-service/.
A: The SC PCB codes are our codes (SC = Silicon Chip) and you can search our shop for those codes to see whether we sell those boards or have the patterns available for download. EPE codes refer to boards stocked by Everyday Practical Electronics magazine in the UK (now called Practical Electronics or PE). In cases where a PCB is available from PE but not Silicon Chip, you can order it from the UK using their website at www.electronpublishing.com/product-category/pe-pcb-service/.
