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PRODUCT SHOWCASE
OK, so what do you do with ’em?
Branco Justic, head honcho at Oatley Electronics, has
a well-earned reputation for sniffing out some intriguing
products and then selling them at bargain prices.
One we spotted in last month’s Oatley
advert in SILICON CHIP is no exception. It’s
the innards of a 240V ceramic fan heater.
Apparently these failed QC so they weren’t suitable for use as a heater but Branco
couldn’t resist them – or their controller PC
boards (a couple of pallets of them!).
There are three separate ~800W ceramic
heaters built into one unit, each individually
connectable. Each is about 500Ω cold but
around 65Ω hot (not linear). A 240V 80mm
diecast fan blows air through the elements.
At $15 each you’re getting a very cheap fan
(priced diecast fans lately?) and the heater
elements effectively for nothing.
The question is, what can you use the
ceramic heater for? Branco suggests they
could be good for a variety of heating purposes (incubators,
photo chemicals, etc), especially as they still produce good
heat down to about 50V or so. Or perhaps they could form
a high power dummy load. Or an interesting desk ornament/paper weight. Put on
your thinking caps and see what you come
up with!
The heaters are also supplied with a heavy
duty 3-pole rocker switch. The controller
boards are sold separately (with connection
diagram but no circuits available). They have
some triacs, opto couplers, a transformer and
even a couple of mercury (“tilt”) switches on
them, all for just $12.00.
Contact:
Oatley Electronics
Ph: (02) 9584 3563 Fax: (02) 9584 3561
Website: www.oatleyelectronics.com
Source for FETs with pilot lights . . .
AC Electronics have been appoin-ted Australasian distributors of
the Svetlana range
of high quality audio vacuum tubes.
This includes
the popular EL34
and 6L6GC tubes
as well as the 300B,
6550C, KT88 and
EL509. The long
awaited Svetlana
12AX7 has just been released.
In addition they are stocking the
large range of Golden Dragon tubes
including the KT66 and KT88 GEC
look-alikes and the super 300BM,
plus the EI Yugoslavian Elite Gold
series covering 12AT7, 12AU7, 12AX7
together with 6CG7, 6DJ8, 12BH7A
and EL84 – all with gold plated pins.
For industrial and high-power transmitting requirements they distribute
Global Tubes of the USA.
To complement their vacuum tubes,
AC Electronics have also been ap-
pointed distributors of the Hammond
range of “Classic” audio transformers
for single-ended and push-pull/ultra-linear use.
They will also supply Hammond
universal power transformers and
chokes.
Contact:
AC Electronics
PO Box 487, Drysdale Vic 3222
Ph: (03) 5257 2297 Fax: (03) 5257 1773
email: acourtney<at>pacific.net.au
Weather forecast station has wireless (LIPD band) outside sensors
Everyone is interested in the weather – and what it will do
next! Jaycar Electronics have a rather neat weather station which
gives you the current temperature both inside and out (outside
via a 433MHz wireless sensor) along with relative humidity
and temperature trends. It also has an alarm clock and calendar
inbuilt and it even has a storm warning alert and over/under
temperature alerts.
The main display unit is 117 x 127 x 27mm so is large enough
to be seen from quite a
distance.
Contact:
Extra sensors are avail- Jaycar Electronics
able (approx. 30m range). PO Box 6424, Silverwater NSW 1811
With 1 sensor the unit Ph: (02) 9741 8555 Fax: (02) 9741 8500
(XC0295) is priced at Website: www.jaycar.com.au
$99.00
80 Silicon Chip
www.siliconchip.com.au
Radio Projects for the Amateur
Volume 2, the sequel to the now-out-of-print
Volume 1, presents about 50 projects of interest
to amateur radio operators, covering everything
from receivers and transmitters through to test
equipment and even antennas and masts.
The projects are presented very much in “amateur” style with hand-drawn circuit diagrams and
component layouts. That’s not a criticism, it’s a
style which many “home brewers” have become
accustomed to because that’s how they keep their
own circuits etc filed away!
It’s available direct from the author/publisher
(see below) or through the WIA VK2 Division
bookshop (http://members.ozemail.com.au/~vk2wi/bookshop/index.htm).
Price including GST is $24.95.
AUDIO MODULES
broadcast quality
Contact:
Drew Diamond
45 Gatters Rd, Wonga Park
Vic 3115
New clamp meters, tough leather cases from Fluke
Fluke has introduced a new, smaller- size
range of clamp meters that fit more easily
into tight places. The 321 and 322 meters
measure to 400A AC and 600V AC, up to
400W. The 3322 will measure to 600V DC
and has a 40A range for accurate low-current measurement. Both feature auto
shut-off, soft-sided carry gase, test leads,
batteries and two year warranty.
Also new to the Fluke range are three
sizes of tough, premium cases, made
from top grain leather with rugged snaps,
reinforced rivets and heavy duty stitching.
There is one case for meters/test leads,
one for electrical testers and another for
all other accessories. All can be worn on a
belt.
Manufactured in Australia
Harbuch Electronics Pty Ltd
9/40 Leighton Pl. HORNSBY 2077
Ph (02) 9476-5854 Fx (02) 9476-3231
Ultra-mini four-port
USB hub
Contact:
Fluke Australia
Ph: (02) 8850 3333 Fax (02) 8850 3300
Website: www.fluke.com
How do you easily find a satellite signal?
With less and less
analog transmission,
finding a satellite TV
signal these days by
manual searching is
becoming quite difficult. (For example,
PAS-2 now has only digital signals). Sure, if you’re
a professional installer
you can buy an $X000
Spectrum Analyser – but
for most mere mortals
they’re a tad out of reach!
Satellite TV specialists
Av-comm have come up with a much
cheaper alternative – a Spectrum
Monitor. This device connects to the
satellite receiver and tells it to sweep
over the band, without processing
the received signals on the way. It
then outputs any received signals as a
video graphic which can be displayed
on most video monitors via the video
input.
Each satellite signal found (or more
correctly each transponder) is shown
as a new peak on the screen.
It’s a quick-n-easy way to graphiwww.siliconchip.com.au
cally display received
signals – say, as your
dish is swept across
the sky. The larger
the peak in the display, the stronger the
received signal. And
while it is not calibrated, the
peaks have some relativity
to each other as far as frequency is concerned (we’ve
seen this device used with
frequencies written all over
the glass monitor screen in
marker pen!).
It can also be used to set polarisation
(simply by turning the LNB on the dish
through 90° and checking for a peak).
If you’re into satellite TV reception,
always searching for new signals, the
Spectralook from Av-comm could be a
godsend. It is priced at $329 – dearer
than a satellite signal meter but much,
much more useful.
Contact:
Av-Comm Pty Ltd
Ph: (02) 9939 4377 Fax: (02) 9939 4376
Website: www.avcomm.com.au
The Ultra-Mini 4 Port bus-powered
USB Hub from Targus allows any
notebook or desktop computer to
enjoy plug and play connection with
multiple input/output USB devices.
The hub is ultra lightweight and
compact (95 x 42 x 20 mm) and has
full overload protection on each port
to prevent any danger of power shutdown, Each port glows blue when
powered up. It comes with a 1m cable.
The hub is suitable for both PC and
Apple notebooks or USB-enabled
desktops with Windows 98, 2000, Me,
XP or Mac operating systems.
The Ultra-Mini 4 Port USB Hub has
a recommended retail price of $49.95
and is available throughout Australia
wherever quality computer accessories are sold.
Contact:
Targus Australia
Ph: (02) 9807 1222
Website: www.targus.com.au
SC
August 2002 81
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