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Contents Vol.22, No.8; August 2009 www.siliconchip.com.au SILICON CHIP Features 12 What Ship Is That? What ship is that? Where’s it heading? When is it due in port? What’s its speed? AIS (Automatic Identification System) has the answers and you can even follow the ship on your computer – by Stan Swan 24 Digital Radio Is Coming, Pt.5 Digital radio broadcasts have now commenced operation in most Australian state capitals. Here’s a look at the receiver profiles, broadcast licence categories and basic signal transmission characteristics – by Alan Hughes 44 Review: JTAGMaster Boundary Scan Tester Comprehensive test instrument is used for in-circuit programming, training and for checking production PC boards – by Mauro Grassi Pro jects To Build 20 Converting a Uniden Scanner To Pick Up AIS Signals Want to track ships around the world using the Automatic Identification System (AIS)? Here’s how to modify a couple of Uniden scanners to pick up the signals. There’s also a cheap “SlimJim” antenna to build – by Stan Swan SD Card Music & Speech Recorder/Player – Page 30. Lead-Acid/ SLA Battery Condition Checker – Page 62. 30 An SD Card Music & Speech Recorder/Player Easy-to-build unit stores WAV files on low-cost MMC/SD/SDHC cards. You can use it as a jukebox, a sound effects player or an expandable “dicta-phone” – by Mauro Grassi 62 Lead-Acid/SLA Battery Condition Checker Here’s the perfect companion for the Battery Zapper described last month. It draws several high-current pulses from the battery and lights a LED to indicate the battery’s condition – by Jim Rowe 72 A 3-Channel UHF Rolling-Code Remote Control, Pt.1 High-security design can be used with up to 16 transmitters and has three separate relay output channels to control devices such as door strikes, garage doors and lights – by John Clarke Special Columns 57 Serviceman’s Log It’s chaos theory to the rescue – by the Serviceman 86 Circuit Notebook (1) Phase Modulator Vibrato For Musical Instruments; (2) Fractional Frequency Division With A Picaxe; (3) 12V To 36V DC Converter; (4) Stereo Stethoscope For Troubleshooting 91 Vintage Radio The unnamed console; an orphan from the 1930s – by Rodney Champness Departments   2   3   4 29 Publisher’s Letter Subscriptions Mailbag Order Form siliconchip.com.au 96 Ask Silicon Chip 99 Notes & Errata 102 Market Centre 3-Channel UHF Rolling-Code Remote Control – Page 72. August 2009  1