Contents
Vol.30, No.9; September 2017
SILICON
CHIP
www.siliconchip.com.au
Features & Reviews
16 Commemorating Cassini’s demise and Sputnik’s birth
The Cassini spacecraft will be deliberately plunged into Saturn this month, to
certain destruction. It’s had a remarkably successful mission. We also look at
the world’s first man-made satellite, Sputnik, 60 years on – by Ross Tester
40 This month: Melbourne’s turn for Electronex Expo
Australia’s only dedicated electronics design and assembly industry expo and
conference returns to the Melbourne on September 6 and 7
61 The unclear future of radio broadcasting in Australia
Did you know the ABC turned off its shortwave transmitters in January, leaving
vast areas of Australia without a viable radio service? AM, FM and DAB+ don’t
stand a chance – so where do we go from here? – by Alan Hughes
63 Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM): what’s it all about?
Cassini is about to be crashed
into Saturn’s atmosphere,
sending back valuable data
until its last moments – Page 16
DRM could be the solution for continent-wide broadcasting and beyond –
with excellent quality and can even be in stereo. It’s a much better proposition
than anything else and its cost would be minimal – by Jim Rowe
78 LTspice Tutorial Part 3: Modelling an NTC Thermistor
We show how to simulate this tricky non-linear device – by Nicholas Vinen
Constructional Projects
24 Fully adjustable, 3-way active loudspeaker crossover
Want more than a boring passive crossover? Build this one! The crossover
points and levels for tweeter, midrange and woofer are fully adjustable with
separate level controls for each driver – by John Clarke
You may not have even heard of
DRM – Digital Radio Mondiale –
but it’s already in use in many
overseas countries. Why not
here in Australia? – Pages 61/63
66 Dead simple radio IF alignment with DDS
Gone are the days when aligning a superhet radio IF took lots of gear and time:
this Maximite-based DDS module makes short work of it. And it’s really simple!
A must for all our (many!) vintage radio enthusiasts – by Nicholas Vinen
86 An Arduino Data Logger with GPS, Part 2
Here’s the description of how the software works and how it all goes together
with a custom shield – by Nicholas Vinen
92 Arduino “ThingSpeak.com” ESP8266 data logger
It’s easy to log data to the cloud using an Arduino – by Bera Somnath
Repairing, restoring or even
building AM superhet radios? You
want this simple DDS IF Alignment
Unit – Page 66
94 El Cheapo modules Part 9: AD9850 DDS module
It can be programmed to produce sine and square waves from 0.0291Hz to over
62MHz in tiny increments – by Jim Rowe
Your Favourite Columns
36 Circuit Notebook
(1) Automatically rebooting NBN modem each night
(2) LIDAR rangefinder with Arduino
(3) Level shifting the output of the High-Temperature Digital Thermometer
73 Serviceman’s Log
Not just one but two Arduino data
logger projects this month,
including storing data in the
cloud – Pages 86/92
When a GPS loses its way – by Dave Thompson
100 Vintage Radio
The 3-transistor Philips MT4 Swingalong – by Ian Batty
Everything Else!
2 Editor’s Viewpoint
4 Mailbag – Your Feedback
siliconchip.com.au
104 SILICON CHIP Online Shop
106 Product Showcase
107
111
112
112
Ask SILICON CHIP
Market Centre
Advertising Index
Notes and Errata
Australia’s largest electronics expo
is on this month in Melbourne – and
you’re invited! Get your free entry at
www.electronex.com.au – Page 40
September 2017 1
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