Fullscreen HTML5Med Res (??MB)HTML4

Contents Vol.27, No.4; April 2014 SILICON CHIP www.siliconchip.com.au Features 14 Autonomous Ground Vehicle Competition University students from all over Australia pit their designing, building and programming skills to “drive” a driverless vehicle around an obstacle course. No human intervention allowed! – by Dr David Maddison 22 So You Think You Can Solder? It’s a critical skill for electronics professionals and hobbyists but most of us have had no formal training in soldering. An IPC soldering training and certification course taught us far more than we ever expected – by Nicholas Vinen Autonomous Ground Vehicle Competition – Page 14. 27 Review: Thermaltronics TMT-2000S-K Soldering Station Professional soldering station has Curie-point regulated induction heating for fast thermal recovery and accurate temperature regulation. It also features automatic shutdown when the iron is in the workstand – by Nicholas Vinen Pro jects To Build 30 40V Switchmode Bench Power Supply, Pt.1 New design combines switchmode and linear regulators for high efficiency and low output noise, with up to 5A output. It has voltage and current meters, adjustable current limit with display, 12-24V DC input and a front panel load switch – by Nicholas Vinen 56 USB-To-RS232C Serial Interface 40V Switchmode Bench Power Supply – Page 30. Want to connect an older test instrument or PC peripheral fitted with a ‘legacy’ serial RS-232C interface to your late-model PC or laptop? Here’s the solution: build this USB-To-RS-232C serial interface – by Jim Rowe 66 A Rubidium Frequency Standard For A Song Want to make laboratory-standard frequency measurements? It’s now possible for a very low price; just buy a used rubidium-vapour frequency standard on-line and build our simple power supply and buffer circuit – by Jim Rowe Special Columns 38 Serviceman’s Log Musical instruments: a whole new ballgame – by Dave Thompson 53 Salvage It! USB-To-RS232C Serial Interface – Page 56. Harvesting old printers for parts – by Bruce Pierson 62 Circuit Notebook (1) PICAXE-Based Music Box or Doorbell; (2) 2-Cell Lithium-Polymer Charger Has Balancing Feature; (3) Three-Decade Timebase Period Divider A Rubidium Frequency Standard For A Song – Page 66. 82 Vintage Radio Made in New Zealand: the 1957-60 Pacemaker radio – by Dr Hugo Holden Departments   2 Publisher’s Letter   4 Mailbag 75 Subscriptions siliconchip.com.au 80 Product Showcase 88 90 95 96 Online Shop Ask Silicon Chip Market Centre Notes & Errata April 2014  1