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Contents Vol.30, No.11; November 2017 Features & Reviews 18 SILICON CHIP: 30 years old and going strong! The first issue of SILICON CHIP came out in November 1987. That’s the “when”; here we take a sometimes irreverent look at the how, where and why your favourite electronics magazine was created – by Ross Tester 24 Phone calls via satellite: it nearly didn’t happen! The Iridium satellite phone system is truly universal – you can call from anywhere to anywhere. Essential for travellers away from cell phone coverage, the whole system was almost scuttled before it began – by Dr David Maddison 35 Getting the most from www.siliconchip.com.au They say that the majority of website users only get a small percentage of the information they’re looking for, mainly because they don’t know what to look for! Here’s a rundown of the information that’s available – by Nicholas Vinen Constructional Projects 40 Dipole Loudspeaker System “This is, of course, impossible” . . . but with a bit of electronic hocus-pocus and a couple of hours, you can build this enclosure-free system and be amazed at the sound quality – by Allan Linton-Smith SILICON CHIP www.siliconchip.com.au Happy birthday to . . .us! Your favourite electronics magazine turns 30! – Page 18 You can’t make a high-performance loudspeaker without an enclosure, right? Wrong! Allan Linton-Smith has proved you can with his new Dipole Loudspeaker System – Page 40 46 Build the Super-7 – a single-board AM radio receiver We know you can buy a simple AM radio receiver over the counter or online for just a few dollars. But this 7-transistor AM radio receiver will also teach you as you build. And your friends won’t believe you made it yourself! – by John Clarke 68 Want to build a Bass Guitar? Read on . . . Poor lefties – they’re so often forgotten! But when it comes to bass guitars, there is an answer. We’ve found a kit which contains everything you need to build your own bass “axe” – left or right-handed! – by Keith Walters 84 Touch-screen 6GHz+ Frequency Counter, part II We’ve already had a lot of great feedback on our new high-spec touch screen frequency counter. It has really hit a sweet spot! This month we look at assembling the PCBs and putting it in its acrylic case – by Nicholas Vinen Single-board AM radio is easy to build – it’s a great beginner’s project and you can learn while you build! – Page 46 92 A $30 build-it yourself SDR kit How do they do it for the price? We keep asking ourselves: even with a few minor wrinkles in putting it together, this 100kHz to 1.5GHz(+) software-defined radio kit from Banggood is really great value – by Jim Rowe Your Favourite Columns 61 Serviceman’s Log Rangehood repair full of red herrings – by Dave Thompson 76 Circuit Notebook (1) (2) (3) (4) PICAXE-based Chess/Games Timer Caravan water tank level meter tracks water usage High power H-bridge uses discrete Mosfets Four-channel UHF wireless remote control Want to build your own Bass Guitar? We’ve found a kit which has absolutely everything you need. And there’s even one for lefthanders – Page 68 $30 for a 100kHz-1.5GHz+ software-defined radio kit? Surely it can’t be much good? But it is! – Page 92 98 Vintage Radio Pocket radio, 1940s style: the two-valve Privat-ear – by Ian Batty Everything Else! 4  Publisher’s Letter 6  Mailbag – Your Feedback 104   Ask SILICON CHIP 108   SILICON CHIP Online Shop 111  Market Centre 112  Advertising Index 112   Notes and Errata www.facebook.com/siliconchipmagazine