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PRODUCT SHOWCASE Need a new battery for your cordless drill? Here’s one! “Speedskins” convert keyboards for learning If you’ve ever had to buy a replacement battery for a cordless drill, you’ll know just how much they cost: usually the original price of the drill PLUS an arm and a leg. $70-$100 is common! Dick Smith Electronics have come up with the perfect solution. Don’t replace the battery: replace the whole thing! For less than forty bucks, you’ll get a 14.4V cordless drill with a 10mm keyless chuck, electronically-controlled variable speed (0 to 550rpm), forward and reverse switching and six-torque settings. It also has a 3-5 hour charger and It is considered very difficult to learn to touch type when you can see the keyboard letters – the temptation to “peek” is simply too great, slowing the learning process signficantly. If you’re in the position of teaching computer skills – or want to learn better – a Speedskin could be the answer. It is a flexible but opaque keyboard cover which doesn’t stop the keyboard being used, it simply hides the letters. It doesn’t cover the whole keyboard, only the alpha and numeric keys. And because keyboards are virtuallty all made to the same size, they’ll fit notebooks and laptops as well as conventional keyboards. They can even be separated for ergonomic keyboards. They are also available in DVORAK layout for those who want to learn this supposedly more efficient system. Speedskins should be available from most computer and stationery stores for around $19.00 to $24.00. even a screwdriver bit and a plastic carry case! Compare that with what you’d pay for just a new battery. Available at all DSE stores and through mail orders. Contact: Dick Smith Electronics 2 Davidson St, Chullora NSW 2190 Phone: (02) 9642 9100 Fax (02) 9642 9153 Website: www.dse.com.au Small business UPS American Power Conversion (APC) have available 350W or 500W unin-terruptible power supplies (UPS) designed to give small offices time to properly close files and shut down systems when power fails. “Power disturbances account for 45% of all computer availability problems,” said Leanne Cunnold, APC Managing Director (Aust & NZ). Depending on the computer type, the Back-Up CPS can give up to 20 minutes or so operation from its own battery after mains power fails. It also protects against power surges, including phones, faxes, modems, etc within its guard, including RJ-45 and USB ports for connection with the work- 74  Silicon Chip station. Filesaving, autoshutdown software for both Windows and Mac is included with with each UPS. Recommended retail price of the 350VA model is $221.00, while the 500VA model is $315.00. Contact: American Power Conversion Phone: (02) 9955 9366 Website: www.apcc.com Contact: Divisible by Zero PO Box 25, East Brunswick Vic 3057 Phone: (03) 9388 9902 Fax (02) 9388 9923 Website: www.dbz.com.au www.siliconchip.com.au Jaycar’s smallest-yet CMOS Colour Pinhole Camera with Audio This colour video camera measures just 20 x 20 x 16mm and is ideal for remote surveillance situations where a more-expensive CCD camera is not required. It is ideal for checking visitors at the front door, monitoring a sleeping baby or keeping an eye on the swimming pool. The camera has a composite video output so it can be voice operated recording. Software is included to enable messages to be downloaded to a PC via the printer port and e-mailed to friends or business colleagues. Accessories include an 2 x AAA batteries, earphone, microphone, line-out cable and a tele-phone adaptor. However, the telephone adaptor is NOT approved for use in Australia. Price at all Jaycar Electronics stores is $ 449.95 (Cat. XC-0280 ). Contact: Jaycar Electronics 100 Silverwater Rd, Silverwater NSW 2128 Phone: (02) 9741 8555 Fax (02) 9741 8500 Website: www.jaycar.com.au How to Do Everything With Your Scanner If you own a scanner – and more than one third of homes with Internet access also have scanners – do you get the most from it? If you’re typical of most users you’re probably only using a fraction of its capabilities. Many people use their scanners only to send photos to their friends, not realising there’s so much more they could do. Now there’s a new book from McGraw-Hill which can really answer all those scanner questions for you: “How to Do Everything with Your Scanner” by Jill Gilbert, describes not only how to use a scanner to capture a wide variety of images, it offers advice and tips on image and color correction and provides details on using photo editing software to edit, repair and modify scanned images There are also scanning projects for all members of the family, including creating a logo, stationery, adding 76  Silicon Chip broadcast quality connected directly to a video recorder or the A/V input of a normal TV. It sells for $159.95 (Cat. QC-3459). . . . and an 810 minute Digital Voice Recorder A new Samsung digital voice recorder from Jaycar will store up to 810 minutes (Yes, that’s 13.5 hours) of digital voice quality audio in a neat, slim hand-held unit. Four separate message groups are available and each group can have up to 100 messages. The recorder has an integrated LCD to show the status of various functions including battery condition, rec/playback level, message number & length, message group, etc. Also included is a VOX function and variable microphone sensitivity for AUDIO MODULES images to a web page or e-mail and there is even an 8-page colour insert that shows step by step progress for repair/ restoration of damaged photos and several of the included sample projects. With a recommended retail price of $44.95, this book (along with many others in the McGraw-Hill Technical range) is available from Dick Smith Electronics, Jaycar Electronics, Altron-ics, Technical Books (Melbourne) and all good bookstores. Contact: McGraw-Hill Book Co Aust Pty Ltd 4 Barcoo St, East Roseville NSW 2069 Phone (02) 9415 9899 Website: www.mcgraw-hill.com.au Manufactured in Australia Harbuch Electronics Pty Ltd 9/40 Leighton Pl. HORNSBY 2077 Ph (02) 9476-5854 Fx (02) 9476-3231 CAN BUS Analyser from Yokogawa The Controller Area Network (CAN) bus is widely used for automotive, factory automation and other applications, The Yokogawa DL7200 CAN BUS signal analyser captures and analyses the waveforms of bus signals that previously proved difficult with conventional protocol analysers. It comprises a multichannel digital oscilloscope with four analog channels and 16-bit logic input channel (optional) as its base unit. Users can analyse the CAN bus in synchronisation not only with its signal but also with other signals, such as a signal from a sensor or a control signal sent to a module. Using this feature along with the CAN bus trigger and analysis functions, users can efficiently evaluate and debug the overall range of a system. The CAN Bus Analysis Functions analyse waveform data existing on the CAN bus and acquire into long-recordlength memory with a maximum of 16 megawords (MW) in a time-series SC manner. Contact: Yokogawa Australia Pty Ltd Private Mail Bag 24 Nth Ryde NSW 1670 Phone: (02) 9805 0699 Fax: (02) 9888 1844 Website: www.yokogawa.com.au www.siliconchip.com.au