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SILICON SILIC CHIP www.siliconchip.com.au Publisher/Editor Nicholas Vinen Technical Editor John Clarke, B.E.(Elec.) Technical Staff Jim Rowe, B.A., B.Sc Bao Smith, B.Sc Tim Blythman, B.E., B.Sc Technical Contributor Duraid Madina, B.Sc, M.Sc, PhD Art Director & Production Manager 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 Founding Editor (retired) Leo Simpson, B.Bus., FAICD Silicon Chip is published 12 times a year by Silicon Chip Publications Pty Ltd. ACN 626 922 870. ABN 20 880 526 923. All material is copyright ©. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Subscription rates (12 issues): $105.00 per year, post paid, in Australia. For overseas rates, see our website or email silicon<at>siliconchip.com.au 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 ISSN 1030-2662 * Recommended & maximum price only. Printing and Distribution: Editorial Viewpoint 128 Pages: our largest issue ever! We have a huge issue this month with 128 pages. There are a few reasons for this. The first is to celebrate a successful twelve months as the new publisher of SILICON CHIP. My intention was for the transition to be seamless, keeping up the same high quality of content and service to our readers. From your many comments, I believe we’ve achieved that. I haven’t made any major changes to the magazine since Leo retired. It has been around for over thirty years and so must have been doing something right. As the old saying goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. We have made a few minor stylistic tweaks, just to freshen up the look and improve consistency here and there. But that’s it. I am happy with the quality and variety of our content (and I believe our readers are too). The only way that I thought we could improve the magazine was to run more of the same great content. And that’s what we’ve been doing. It is obviously more work to produce these larger issues, and it costs a bit more too. But I feel the result makes it worthwhile. I hope you have been enjoying the extra content. As I wrote in response to a letter in the Mailbag section last month, despite the extra expense involved, the magazine price has not changed, and I will keep it the same as long as possible. The intention is to give you, the reader, the best possible value for your money. Another main reason for the larger issue this month is that it coincides with this year’s ElectroneX exhibition in Melbourne and we have plenty of information on what you can expect to see if you attend. If you’re a Melbournite, or can spare the time to fly down for a day or two, it’s well worth attending. You will meet lots of interesting people, see some great technology and you will probably learn something too. I wish I could go, but publishing a magazine is time-consuming. We are represented by Glyn Smith, our Advertising Sales Manager, on stand D18. Call in and say hello! Next year, ElectroneX will be back in Sydney; hopefully, I will be there in person. The popular HRSA Vintage RadioFest is also on this month in Canberra, and we have an article on an interesting ‘farm radio’ in this issue. We also have some substantial Vintage Radio features coming up later this year. The final reason for having so many pages in this issue is the monster article on building a four degree-of-freedom gamer’s seat by Gianni Pallotti, starting on page 26. Normally we would run such an enormous article over two or even more months, but there’s a lot to this impressive design, and it would be difficult to split up. You need to be confident in your mechanical construction skills to take on that project, especially welding. But the result is a very impressive piece of equipment. Even if you don’t think you have the ability to build it, it’s still interesting to read about how he designed and made it. So when I saw what he’d done, I realised that we had to publish it. Dr David Maddison’s article on Cyber Espionage is quite fascinating, but I won’t go into any details about it here; you will have to read it and see! So I hope you enjoy this bumper issue. While we can’t promise to do this very often, I can promise to make SILICON CHIP the most interesting, best value for money electronics magazine not just here in Australia and New Zealand but anywhere in the world. Nicholas Vinen 24-26 Lilian Fowler Pl, Marrickville 2204 2 Silicon Chip Australia’s electronics magazine siliconchip.com.au