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Contents Vol.30, No.7; July 2017 SILICON CHIP www.siliconchip.com.au Features & Reviews 16 We visit Incat – another Aussie success story Imagine a 100m+ ferry plowing through waves at almost 100km/h – they’re the craft Tasmanian shipbuilder Incat are exporting all around the world. Despite early setbacks, Incat are now a major force in the field – by Ross Tester 24 LED lights/downlights and dimmers LEDs are now the choice for home lighting but many people have found they don’t work well (if at all) with their existing dimmers. We explain how and why and how to fit a dimmer which will work properly – by Leo Simpson The 109m wave-piercing catamaran “Francisco”, built by Incat in Tasmania– Page 16 57 Review: Tecsun’s new S-8800 “AM listener’s receiver” While this new model receiver from Tecsun covers FM, shortwave and even longwave, it’s the AM broadcast band where it really excels – by Ross Tester 60 “Over-the-Top” rail-to-rail op amps Most op amps can’t operate even close to their supply rails. But there’s a class of op amps which can get within a couple of millivolts – by Nicholas Vinen 72 The low-cost VS1053 Arduino audio playback shield The VS1053 is a low-cost Arduino shield with a microSD card slot which can decode and play back many different audio formats – by Nicholas Vinen Constructional Projects 32 RapidBrake – giving the guy behind extra stopping time You may recall our “QuickBrake” project (Jan 16). This one is different: it senses rapid deceleration and flashes either your brake lights or hazard lights to alert following drivers, giving them extra time to avoid a rear-ender! – by John Clarke The things you DIDN’T know about LED lights and dimmers – Page 24 RapidBrake gives vital extra warning to the driver following – Page 32 40 Deluxe Touchscreen eFuse, Part 1 You asked for a deluxe version with higher specs, so here it is! Based on a Micromite BackPack, this new eFuse handles higher current, higher voltages, split supplies, 1ms triggering and so much more – by Nicholas Vinen 77 We put the VS1053 Arduino shield to work Here’s how to turn the VS1053 (see above) into a real project for audio playback and recording – by Bao Smith 82 Completing our new Graphic Equaliser Here’s the fun bit: putting it all together! It’s housed in a laser-cut acrylic case it looks great – and with up-to-the-minute circuitry it works just as well. Add one of these to your hifi system and really hear the difference – by John Clarke Your Favourite Columns 62 Serviceman’s Log A blast from the past: perished belts stop a cassette deck – by Dave Thompson 87 Circuit Notebook (1) Remote water level monitoring using LoRa and Arduino (2) Wien Bridge Oscillator delivers high power (3) Simple constant speed controller for permanent magnet DC motors (4) 12V DC Cyclic Pump Timer 92 Vintage Radio The DKE38 Deutscher Kleinempfänger– by Ian Batty Everything Else!   2 Publisher’s Letter   103 Market Centre    4 Mailbag – Your Feedback  104 Advertising Index siliconchip.com.au   98 Ask SILICON CHIP   104 Notes and Errata 101 SILICON CHIP Online Shop Deluxe version of our popular eFuse, with touchscreen, higher power, split supplies and much more – Page 40 Tecsun’s new S-8800 receiver is a solid performer on all bands but it’s a real whiz on AM! – Page 57 Cheap Arduino shield to play (and record) audio files from and to an SD card – Page 77 July 2017  1 www.facebook.com/siliconchipmagazine