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Contents Vol.27, No.3; March 2014 SILICON CHIP www.siliconchip.com.au Features   12  Digital Cameras Come of Age It all started almost 40 years ago with a 100 x 100 pixel monster. We trace the history of digital cameras to today’s sensational performers – by Barrie Smith   18  Retro Round-Up: Nostalgic Radio Is Back! Retro radios with a style reminiscent of bygone days but with modern reliability and features are now popular items. Their sound may not be hifi but that’s generally of little importance. Here’s a look at what’s available – by Kevin Poulter   63  Review: Cadex C7400ER-C Battery Analyser Retro Round-up: Nostalgic Radio Is Back – Page 18. A professional charger, analyser and conditioner for those who use lots of rechargeable batteries or for use in battery service centres – by Nicholas Vinen   96  A Look Back At Ferrite Core Memory: Bits You Can See A 40-year-old ferrite core memory module makes for an interesting comparison with modern solid-state memory. With a capacity of just 4KB, it’s bigger than this page, cost more than $4500 (in 1974 dollars), and you could actually see the individual bits! – by Brian Armstrong Pro jects To Build   26  Arduino-Based GSM Remote Monitoring Station Need to keep an eye on electrical gear, a power supply or various sensors in remote locations such as on a farm, moored boat or holiday house? This unit will send you an SMS as soon as something goes wrong – by Nicholas Vinen   44  Precision 10V DC Reference For Checking DMMs Ever checked the calibration of your digital multimeter? This low-cost precision DC voltage reference give a source of 10.000V DC accurate to within ±5mV or ±0.05% – by Jim Rowe   66  Burp Charger For NiMH & Nicad Batteries Arduino-Based GSM Remote Monitoring Station – Page 26. Precision 10V DC Reference For Checking DMMs – Page 44. Burp your way to better cell health with this new NiMH/Nicad battery charger. It alternately charges and discharges the cells during the charging cycle for improved efficiency and better performance – by John Clarke   88  230V/10A Speed Controller For Universal Motors, Pt.2 Last month, we described the circuit details of our new 230VAC/10A Speed Controller. Here’s how to build and troubleshoot it – by John Clarke Special Columns   38  Serviceman’s Log Miracle hard disk drive data recovery – by Dave Thompson  84 Circuit Notebook (1) Adapting An Arduino LCD Shield For The MiniMaximite; (2) Atmel Micro­ controller Drives An Arduino OLED Display; (3) Versatile Timer Is Based On A Single Chip; (4) Last Digit Bobble Fix For The 12-Digit Frequency Counter 100  Vintage Radio The 1956 Sony Gendis TR-72 transistor radio – by Dr Hugo Holden Departments     4  Publisher’s Letter   6 Mailbag  25 Subscriptions siliconchip.com.au  78 Product Showcase 104  Online Shop 106 Ask Silicon Chip 110 Notes & Errata 111 Market Centre Burp Charger For NiMH & Nicad Batteries – Page 66. March 2014  1