This is only a preview of the July 1993 issue of Silicon Chip. You can view 37 of the 96 pages in the full issue, including the advertisments. For full access, purchase the issue for $10.00 or subscribe for access to the latest issues. Articles in this series:
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PRODUCT SHOWCASE
Panasonic GPS
receiver
12VDC to 240VAC
inverter
This compact 12V to 240VAC inverter will operate most low powered
electrical equipment such as VCRs, TV
sets, fans, computers, small kitchen
appliances and in fact, almost any
mains-powered appliance with a
power consumption of up to 160 watts.
No-load power consumption is a
mere 1.2W while the output surge
capability is 400W. Weight is 1.1kg
and dimensions are 180 x 105 x 60mm.
The inverter is available from all
Dick Smith Electronics stores at $249
(Cat. M-5010). Also available is a 600
watt model at $399 (Cat. M-5000).
Dynalink dish
alignment meter
This dish alignment
meter covers the frequency
range from 900-2050MHz
and it contains a nicad
battery pack, allowing the
LNB (low noise block) of
the dish to be powered directly. The instrument has
a 2-stage MMIC (monolithic microwave IC) amplifier
and internal integrator to
average all signals in the LNB output band and then drive an analog
signal strength meter. It has an
adjustable sensitivity control and
an audio indicator which increases
in pitch as the dish alignment is
improved.
For anyone contemplating dish
installations for either the present
or future pay TV transmissions,
this is an indispensable tool. The
unit comes complete with a 2-metre length of RG-6/U cable with
F connectors, wall charger and
carry case with should
er strap.
The meter can be looped into the
coax feed from a satellite receiver
to verify LNB power consumption
and polarity.
The Dynalink SM-01 Satmeter is
available now for $470.
For further information on this
product and other satellite TV
products, contact Av-Comm Pty
Ltd, PO Box 225, Balgowlah, NSW
2093. Phone (02) 949 7417 or fax
(02) 949 7095.
Panasonic’s KX-G5500 GPS receiver
is a compact receiver which measures
a mere 130 x 65 x 35mm and offers
all the benefits of portability and easy
operation. It’s powered by a long-lasting, rechargeable nickel metal hydride
battery or from a AA alkaline battery
pack (supplied). A lithium battery
serves as a memory backup.
The KX-G5500 comes complete
with external antenna, antenna/DC
adaptor, adjustable mount, carry
case, battery charger and AC adaptor,
and alkaline battery case. The case is
splash resistant and features a backlit
LCD panel so that it can be read in
the dark.
Note: all GPS receivers are subject
to a degradation of position of plus or
minus 100 metres as determined by
the US Department of Defence.
For further information, contact
Panasonic Australia by phoning (02)
986 7400.
Rack mounted
personal computers
Modgraph Inc, well known as a
manufacturer of Super-VGA colour
monitors, now offers a range of
personal computers in a series of
rack-mounted configurations. Intended for applications where high
July 1993 65
Music on hold
for phones
Peter Lacey
has moved
Peter Lacey has moved his
wholesale antenna and instrument
supply business to larger premises
in Frankston. According to Peter,
the company “experienced incredible growth through the aggregation
boom of last year. With a number of
new product opportunities in front
of us, we decided that the cost of
extra space was a small price to pay
to improve service. Some unique
antenna products combined with
our installation background means
we can help technicians achieve
better results from their antenna
work”.
The new address for Peter C.
Lacey Services Pty Ltd is 80 Dande
nong Rd, Frankston, Vic 3199.
Phone (03) 783 2388 or fax (03)
783 5767.
In keeping with the rack mount configuration, the system’s 89-key keyboard
can be mounted on a slide which goes
under the PC, or can be folded over the
screen and disc drives.
For further information, contact
Amtex Electronics, 13 Avon Rd, North
Ryde 2113. Phone (02) 805 0844.
This Austel approved device allows
any phone system to provide music on
hold for incoming callers or outgoing
callers. To place a call on hold you
merely press 8 on a tone or pulse dial
phone. To pick up the call again, press
8 again. The music program may be
from any source such as a tape player
or radio.
The device itself uses US modular
phone plugs and sockets but Telecom
adaptor plugs are also supplied. The
Music-On-Hold adaptor is priced at
$279 while an Austel approved line
isolation transformer is an extra $80.
For further information contact
David Reid Electronics, 127 York St,
Sydney, NSW 2000. Phone (02) 267
1385.
Rotational
speed sensor
8-channel
relay board
resolution colour and PC processing
capabilities are needed in a standard
19-inch rack format, the GX-4500
offers 800 x 600 resolution.
The GX-4500’s Sony Triniton-based
super VGA 8.5-inch diag
onal, flat
screen display is mounted with the
disc drives alongside. There is a choice
of 286, 386 or 486 processors, with two
to five expansion slots and internal
hard disc drives up to 200 megabytes.
66 Silicon Chip
The AX5008 relay and isolated
digital input board plugs directly
into any expansion slot of an IBM
PC/XT, AT or better. The eight SPDT
relays are intended for low power
switching; their contacts are rated
at 3A at 120VAC or 24VDC with a
resistive load.
The eight opto-isolated digital inputs provide 1kV channel to channel
or channel to ground isolation. Their
input impedance is 800Ω. Connections
are made via a 37-way D-type male
connector which is supplied with the
board. For more information, contact
Boston Technology Pty Ltd, PO Box
1750, North Sydney 2059. Phone (02)
955 4765.
The Philips KMI10/1 rotational
speed sensor is claimed to be the first
fully integrated contactless speed sensor to meet all the requirements of the
automotive industry. Features include
accurate measurement down to zero
rpm, an ability to operate at toothto-sensor spacings as large as 2.5mm
and at ambient temperatures as high
as 190°C. These sensors operate with a
wide variety of wheel teeth structures
while a built-in hysteresis in the signal
conditioning circuit makes it immune
to vibrations.
This combination of features suits
the KMI10/1 for use in automotive
applications such as ABS (Anti-lock
Brake Systems), ASC (Anti Slip Control) and engine management systems.
Industrial applications include the
detection of ferrous metals, proximity
detection and current flow detection.
With a very small sensor head and no
requirement for external magnets or
additional components, the KMI10/1
is small and rugged enough to be
integrated into ball-and roller-bearings. Two KMI10/1 sensors operating
together can be used to detect speed
and direction, or to make incremental
measurements.
The KMI10/1 is a 2-terminal device
which operates at fre
quencies from
0-25kHz, producing a pulsed current
output at the tooth frequency. Unlike
inductive sensors, the magnitude of
this pulsed current (7mA in the low
state and 14mA in the high state) is
frequency independent. Only one
low value resistor and capacitor are
required to turn the output current
into a TTL-compatible signal that is
suitable for microcontrollers or other
control logic.
For further information, contact
Philips Components, 34 Waterloo Rd,
North Ryde, NSW 2113. Phone (02)
805 4455.
Vivitar video fader/
audio mixer
Home control system
from Cebus
Now available from CEBus Australia is the HCS II home control
system as featured last year in the
American magazine “Steve Ciarca’s
Circuit Cellar INK”. The HCS II is
a control system which monitors
sensors and controls devices via
the AC power mains. Such systems
have been talked about for many
years as the “intelligent home
concept” but this is the first time
that a dedicated system has become
available.
Essentially, the HCS II transmits
serial data over the AC power line
via special isolating modems. You
York St, Sydney NSW 2000. Phone (02)
267 1385 or fax (02) 261 8905.
Kenwood’s luxury
L-A1 amplifier
Kenwood’s new top of the line L
Series hifi equipment is finished in a
luxurious anodised gold fascia plate
with hand-rubbed rosewood side
panels.
This compact video fader can mix
the sound from three separate sources as well as being able to provide a
smooth fade-in or fade-out of a source
such as a camcorder or VCR. The unit
comes with its own microphone and is
supplied with video and audio leads.
It runs from an external 12V DC plugpack adaptor (not supplied).
The unit retails for $199 and is available from David Reid Electronics, 127
can program the system to control
devices such as lights, heating
systems and so on. The system
uses a program language called
Express and this is supplied on
floppy discs.
Our photo shows some of the
control boards in the system. Not
shown are an LCD board (20 line
display), the appliance module and
modems, and the various cables
which are supplied.
The price is $1442 plus tax
where applicable for an assembled
and tested basic system.
For more information, contact
CEBus Australia, 26 Lambourn Rd,
Watsonia, Vic 3087. Phone (03) 435
1185 or fax (03) 432 1825.
Inside the L-A1 amplifier is a specially developed Super C4 (Super Constant Cascade Circuit) that represents
a major departure from conventional
differential amplifier design. The super C4 circuitry is claimed to reduce
the in-phase noise in much the same
way as the high CMRR (Common Mode
Rejection Ratio) of differential designs
but it produces a much cleaner signal.
continued on page 83
VIDEO
& TV
SERVICE PERSONNEL
TV & VIDEO FAULT LIBRARIES
AVAILABLE AS PRINTED MANUALS $90 EACH + $10 DELIVERY
BOTH MANUALS VIDEO & TV
$155 + $15 DELIVERY
OR AS A PROGRAM FOR IBM COMPATIBLES $155 + $10 DELIVERY
FOR MORE INFORMATION
CONTACT
TECHNICAL APPLICATIONS FAX / PHONE (07) 378 1064
PO BOX 137 KENMORE 4069
July 1993 67
The number of uses for this system
seems inexhaustible and has continually expanded since being adopted by
the USMC in 1988. Designed primarily
for reconnaissance, surveillance and
target spotting, the list has grown to
include evaluation of the effectiveness
of the concealment techniques of US
ground troops. Thus, any unit digging
in will launch a Pointer to check its
own camouflage from the air and to
maintain perimeter security. In the
Iraq war, it was operated by the US
Army 82nd Airborne Division, 4th M
Expeditionary Brigade and the 1st and
4th M expeditionary Force as part of
Operations Desert Shield and Desert
Storm.
Used in the above manner for the
first time, it was also used for real-time
battle damage assessment, reconnaissance, surveillance and advance
warning of enemy movements.
Another novel use for Pointer is
from a ground vehicle. In this manner, the UAV and pilot can extend the
range, depending on the terrain, to
around 50-65km, whilst maintaining
an operational field of view of up to
eight kilometres ahead of and around
the ground vehicle; very handy for
convoys and armoured columns.
However, the Pointer is not without
its drawbacks and there were reports of
launch difficulties due to high winds.
This problem of high winds and low
cruise speeds is a serious one for all
aircraft, as effective ground speeds
can very quickly drop to zero. Thus,
a Pointer cruising at 35km/h into
a 35km/h head
wind has a ground
speed of 0km/h, whereas a UAV with
a 70km/h cruise speed will still have
a ground speed of 35km/h and there
fore will be able to accomplish its
mission, albeit with a reduced range or
loiter time. When cruise speed reaches
hundreds of km/h, headwinds become
less of a problem.
Improvements
These problems aside, the Pointer
appears to have a good future and improvements are already in the system.
These include automatic heading and
altitude hold, spread spectrum transmission to minimise threat from ECM,
increased range (16km), endurance (2
hours) and flight speed. Reduction of
airframe and payload weights are also
in the pipeline, as is a twin-engined
version. All in all, this is a very handy
little unit for what is essentially a toy
aeroplane.
Pointer also has a big brother, the
HILINE, which is a high altitude long
endurance (HALE) UAV for acquisition and tracking of hot airborne
targets (launched ballistic missiles,
etc). At first glance, the figures on this
UAV appear fantastic, with a typical
mission profile as follows: carry 45kg
payload for 800km, loiter for more than
24 hours and return; range more than
4830km with an endurance of approximately 20-30 hours; range 100km from
launch at 25,000 feet; or fly for 15-20
hours at 40,000 feet.
The wingspan of this UAV is quoted
as 15.24 metres and maximum take
off weight as 341kg. It is powered by
one 31kW Ackerman OMC-200 tur
bocharged 2-cylinder engine. Whilst
on the subject of high altitude UAVs,
I have seen mission profiles calling
for altitudes in excess of 100,000 feet
from piston engined UAVs. How they
get a piston engine to breathe at that
altitude is beyond me.
However here we are again at the
end of the allocated space. Next month
we will continue with a discussion on
SC
the really exotic UAVs.
Product Showcase – ctd
from page 67
The end result is that the L-A1 boasts
one of the quietest phono stages found
in an integrated amplifier irrespective
of price.
Another outstanding feature is a
newly developed master volume control with an unusually low impedance
of only 1kΩ. Such a low impedance
design reduces thermal and other
types of noise to the order of one tenth
of traditional designs.
Power output is rated at 100 watts
RMS from a push pull parallel Darl
ington design that employs a group
of driver transistors for each power
section. All stages prior to the output
sections are class A. The power output
sections are powered by a specially
designed toroidal transformer with
extremely low mag
n etic leakage
and massive 18,000µF reservoir
capacitors that have been specially
selected for their outstanding electrical and musical properties. The main
amplifier board and phono section
boards are glass epoxy, Kenwood
claiming that this new material offers
excellent electrical characteristics
and better rigidity than phenolic resin
board.
Specifications include 100 watts
RMS per channel, with both channels
driven into 8Ω from 20Hz to 20kHz
with no more than 0.005% THD. Dynamic power is up to 420 watts into
2Ω. The frequency response is 3Hz
to 100kHz at the -3dB points, while
phono RIAA response is from 20Hz
to 20kHz within ±0.5dB.
The Kenwood L-A1 stereo amplifier
is covered by a 12-month warranty
on parts and labour and has a recommended retail price of $3999. For
further information, contact Kenwood
Electronics Australia Pty Ltd by phoning (008) 251 697.
Nifty little
magnifier
This combined
m a gn i f i e r a n d
tweezer set is very handy when you
have to examine PC boards for cold
solder joints and also to examine the
lettering on those teensy-weensy components. And even if you never touch
a PC board, it is ideal for getting splinters out of fingers. It sells for just $5.50
from All Electronic Components, 118122 Lons
dale St, Mel
bourne, 3000.
Phone (03) 662 3506.
July 1993 83
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