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Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Leo Simpson, B.Bus. Editor Greg Swain, B.Sc.(Hons.) PUBLISHER'S LEITER Technical Staff John Clarke, B.E.(Elec.) Robert Flynn Darren Yates, B.Sc. Reader Services Ann Jenkinson Sharon Macdonald Sales & Marketing Mgr. Sharon Lightner Phone (02) 979 5644 Mobile phone (018) 28 5532 Regular Contributors Brendan Akhurst Garry Cratt, VK2YBX Marque Crozman John Hill Jim Lawler, MTETIA Bryan Maher, M.E., B.Sc. Jim Yalden, VK2YGY Bob Young Photography Stuart Bryce Editorial Advisory Panel Philip Watson, MIREE, VK2ZPW Norman Marks Steve Payor, B.Sc., B.E. SILICON CHIP is published 12 times a year by Silicon Chip Publications Pty Ltd. A.C.N. 003 205 490. All material copyright©. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Printing: Magazine Printers Pty Ltd, Alexandria, NSW; Macquarie Print, Dubbo, NSW. Distribution: Network Distribution Company. Subscription rates: $42 per year in Australia. For overseas rates, see the subscription page in this issue. Liability: Devices or circuits described in SILICON CHIP may be covered by patents. SILICON CHIP disclaims any liability for the infringement of such patents by the manufacturing or selling of any such equipment. Editorial & advertising offices: Unit 1a/77-79 Bassett Street, Mona Vale, NSW 2103. Postal address: PO Box 139, Collaroy Beach, NSW 2097. Phone (02) 979 5644. Fax (02) 979 6503. ISSN 1030-2662 4 SILICON CHIP Celebrating five years of SILICON CHIP It may be hard to believe but SILICON CHIP is now five years old. It has been a very busy but exciting five years for us and having reached this landmark, we are planning for continued growth into the 1990s. Looking back over the last five years, it is hard to credit the pace of technological change we have seen. While there may not _have been radical changes in electronic components or in consumer electronics, the changes to computer technology have been rapid indeed. Our method of preparing and laying out the magazine has changed quite a lot too. When we started SILICON CHIP, we were preparing all editorial copy on IBM XT compatible machines, embedding the typesetting commands in the text and sending it by modem to the typesetter. Following that, the pages were made up in the conventional cut-andpaste method. Then during the latter half of 1990, we changed over to a full desktop publishing system usfog Pagemaker 3.1 on a 386 25MHz machine with a large screen. Today, we are using a mixture of 386 and 486 machines to compile the magazine. All pages, including the cover, are made up on screen. The printed circuit boards, the circuits and wiring diagrams are made up using a number of different CAD packages. To achieve this result, there has been a heavy investment in hardware and software and we expect that to continue. Who knows what changes we will see in the next five years - about the only thing which can be predicted with certainty is that the changes will -continue to come thick and fast. Actually, the October 1992 issue was our 60th, so strictly speaking, we could have celebrated our 5th birthday with the publication of the November issue. However, for a number of reasons it had to be moved back to this issue. Hence, we now present our birthday celebration with over $45,000 worth of prizes, including a Ford Festiva sedan. To give everyone plenty of time to enter, the SILICON CHIP 5th Birthday Sweepstakes will run till the end of February 1993: So get your entries in and join in the celebrations. Our special thanks to Jaycar Electronics and the Ford Motor Company, who are the major sponsors of this 5th birthday celebration, and also to the many other companies who are participating. Without their support, this celebration would not have been possible. Leo Simpson