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Contents Vol.31, No.3; March 2018 Features & Reviews 22 Generation IV Nuclear Power – making their own fuel The new generation of Nuclear Reactors promise many advantages over existing designs, including safety – and even today’s power plants are orders of magnitude safer than any other form of power generation. And the new generation don’t have a waste problem: they use it all – by David Maddison 73 El Cheapo Modules 14: Logarithmic RF Detector Another one from Banggood, this gives a DC output voltage which varies linearly with the RF input power level, over a super-wide bandwidth of 1MHz to 8GHz, and a range of 60dB. It’s suitable for a wide variety of RF measurement equipment – by Jim Rowe Constructional Projects 14 Arduino-based Earthquake Early Warning Alarm Everyone knows the first warning you get of an earthquake is when the building shakes, right? Not quite – there are certain waves which arrive first and can give you quite a bit of warning. This Arduino-based detector can detect these early waves – by Allan Linton-Smith and Nicholas Vinen 34 Full Wave, 230V Universal Motor Speed Controller You’ll be amazed at the performance of this controller. Because it’s full wave (Triac-based) you get excellent speed control from near zero to maximum while maintaining torque. Perfect for drills and small hand tools with “universal” motors – by John Clarke 64 An AM Radio Transmitter to build Every kid’s dream: become a DJ, transmitting music around the home. But this also has other uses too – vintage radio enthusiasts can transmit programming to their restored (AM) radio receivers. And you can re-transmit DAB+ programs so other AM receivers are in sync! – by Nicholas Vinen & Jim Rowe SILICON CHIP www.siliconchip.com.au Using a simple 3-axis accelerometer, this Arduinobased detector could give you precious minutes early warning of an impeding earthquake – Page 14 Gen IV Nuclear Power Stations are now being built all around the world . . . except for a notable exception. Why? – Page 22 Triac-based so it gives full-wave control, our new motor speed control is just what every workshop needs! – Page 34 1MHz to 8GHz RF measurement was never so easy, nor so inexpensive! – Page 73 80 Analog Audio/Video Modulator for Vintage TV sets Restoring old/vintage TV sets is becoming quite popular. But now that analog TV has gone, what can you display on them? This modulator cleans up virtually any analog TV signal (eg, from a tape, a DVD/Blu-Ray disc and even off-air programs from a digital STB!) to suit old TV sets – by Ian Robertson Your Favourite Columns 58 Serviceman’s Log Squeezing an elephant through the eye of a needle – by Dave Thompson 45 Circuit Notebook (1) Drift-free induction balance metal detector (2) Colour slideshow with alarm clock using an ESP32 91 Vintage Radio Philips 1953 portable 5-valve model 148C radio – by Graham Parslow Everything Else! 4 Editorial Viewpoint 6 Mailbag – Your Feedback 57 Product Showcase 96 SILICON CHIP Online Shop 98 Ask SILICON CHIP 103 Market Centre 104 Advertising Index 104 Notes and Errata Our new AM Radio Transmitter will take input from a variety of sources and transmit to any AM radio set. And best of all, it’s completely legal! – Page 64 Into vintage TV restoration? What do you display on them? This audio/ video modulator lets you use any modern source and feeds the required signal to any analog TV receiver – Page 80 www.facebook.com/siliconchipmagazine