Fullscreen HTML5Med Res (??MB)HTML4

SILICON SILIC CHIP www.siliconchip.com.au Publisher Leo Simpson, B.Bus., FAICD Editor Nicholas Vinen Technical Editor John Clarke, B.E.(Elec.) Technical Staff Ross Tester Jim Rowe, B.A., B.Sc Bao Smith, B.Sc Photography Ross Tester Reader Services Ann Morris Advertising Enquiries Glyn Smith Phone (02) 9939 3295 Mobile 0431 792 293 glyn<at>siliconchip.com.au Regular Contributors Dave Thompson David Maddison B.App.Sc. (Hons 1), PhD, Grad.Dip.Entr.Innov. Geoff Graham Associate Professor Graham Parslow Ian Batty Cartoonist Brendan Akhurst SILICON CHIP is published 12 times a year by Silicon Chip Publications Pty Ltd. ACN 003 205 490. ABN 49 003 205 490. All material is copyright ©. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Subscription rates: $105.00 per year in Australia. For overseas rates, see our website or the subscriptions page in this issue. Editorial office: Unit 1 (up ramp), 234 Harbord Rd, Brookvale, NSW 2100. Postal address: PO Box 139, Collaroy Beach, NSW 2097. Phone (02) 9939 3295. E-mail: silicon<at>siliconchip.com.au Printing and Distribution: Derby Street, Silverwater, NSW 2148. ISSN 1030-2662 Recommended & maximum price only. 4 Silicon Chip Publisher’s Letter Thirty years – and still going strong Looking back on 50 years in publishing is a daunting exercise. I started work at Electronics Australia in May 1967 and after two stints there, ended as managing editor. Greg Swain and I started Silicon Chip Publications in July 1987. Our first issue appeared in November 1987. John Clarke and Bob Flynn came with us from EA and while Bob and Greg have since retired (in August 1999 and November 2016 respectively), John Clarke is still with us (albeit now “telecommuting” from northern NSW), along with other very long-serving staff such as Ann Morris and Ross Tester. In fact, one of the stand-out factors in the success of SILICON CHIP has been the loyalty of our staff, our regular contributors, our readers and our advertisers. Two of our most staunch advertisers, Altronics and Jaycar Electronics, supported us right at the beginning and are still our strongest supporters today. We sincerely thank them. Our subscribers and readers have also been very loyal – we still have our very first subscriber, Deogracias Haw, who lives in Taiwan. And while we have been successful, that is not to say the path has been smooth and easy. In fact, for much of the time it has been quite arduous. At the time we started, there were three other monthly electronics magazines: Electronics Australia, Electronics Today International (ETI) and Australian Electronics Monthly, plus a number of trade magazines which were very strong for a while. We have seen them all off, as well as virtually all of the equivalent electronics magazines around the world. Very few survive. Then we ran up against very difficult trading conditions in the quite severe recession of the early 1990s when interest rates rose as high as 18 per cent (thank goodness we had very little debt!). We managed by running a very lean operation and we continue to do that right up to the present. After the 1990s and the “recession we had to have”, we had pretty good economic conditions until the global financial crisis and it really started to bite in around 2008. Arguably, Australia and the rest of the world are still feeling the effects and will continue to do so for many years. Over those years, many of our advertisers’ businesses failed, most large-scale electronics manufacture in Australia has long ceased and many skilled engineers and technicians have either retired or lost their jobs. Around ten years ago the internet really started to gain momentum and its rise has made magazine publishing extremely difficult, as magazines and newspapers have struggled to adapt or die. A great many magazines in all categories have ceased publication. At the same time, the internet presents us with an opportunity as we too attempt to adapt to it. But I am confident that SILICON CHIP will continue its success into the future, particularly with Nicholas Vinen as the Editor, as well as our loyal staff and supporters. Nicholas has a wonderful grasp of the whole electronics scene and can see the opportunities of the magazine in the future. I am also confident that printed magazines will continue for many years into the future but there is no doubt that digital publishing will continue to grow. One aspect will not change. SILICON CHIP will continue to have a strong DIY electronics emphasis, as well as attempting to cover as wide a range of related subjects as possible. We will also continue to comment on the wider issues facing Australians as technology accelerates ahead and controls every aspect of our lives, be it economic, environmental, health and communication. Thirty years ago we could not imagine the huge changes in every facet of our lives. And try as we might to extrapolate, we cannot begin to imagine the changes which will come in the future. Many of the changes of the past thirty or more years have been quite positive for humanity, but will the changes of the future be similarly beneficial? Let us not merely hope for the best but strive for the best. Leo Simpson Celebrating 30 Years siliconchip.com.au