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Contents Vol.33, No.1 January 2020 SILICON CHIP www.siliconchip.com.au Features & Reviews 10 What to do before the lights go out . . . Unfortunately, power outages are a fact of life these days – and Murphy says they will occur at the worst possible time. Here we look at some of the ways you can prepare for the inevitable blackouts and how to survive them – by Nicholas Vinen 32 Migrating from iPhone to Android without tears! Many people have switched their allegiance from Apple to one of the (often much cheaper) Android phones out there. But how do you transfer your contacts, data, messages and anything else without risking losing the lot? – by Dr David Maddison 85 El Cheapo modules: “Intelligent” 8x8 RGB LED Matrix Serial (single wire) control allows each LED to display over 16 million different colours or primary colours at 256 brightness levels. And they can be cascaded for large, really eye catching displays – by Jim Rowe Constructional Projects 20 A low-voltage valve audio preamp It doesn’t look like a “normal” valve – in fact, it has a soft blue glow – but this “Nutube” twin triode from Korg can operate from really low anode voltages. So low, in fact, that we have made a preamp that runs on a 9V battery – by John Clarke 40 Tunable HF Preamp for Software Defined Radio (SDR) SDR is a great way to get into radio listening – but most have woeful performance at HF. Build this little tunable preamp and your SDR will really sing! – by Charles Kosina Want your house to be the only one in the street with lights on during a blackout? Read our tips! – Page 10 Updating from an iPhone to an Android phone should be easy but there are many traps for young players! – Page 32 Wow! A preamplifier that opeates from 7-22V DC using a brand new, tiny twin triode valve! – Page 20 44 Add DCC to your model train layout with Arduino! Running one loco is so passé! Now you can add a Digital Command Control (DCC) system and run as many trains on the same track as you wish – and control signals, crossings, train lights . . . whatever you like! – by Tim Blythman 70 Easy-to-build Bookshelf Speaker System For not much money you can build this great little speaker system – and it even has optional subwoofers which can double as speaker stands – by Phil Prosser 92 Low cost, high precision thermometer calibrator Accurately measuring temperature is notoriously difficult. Here’s a cheap way to ensure your analog and digital thermometers are correct – by Allan Linton-Smith If you use SDR, you’ll know it’s deaf on HF! Build this Tunable HF Preamp and you won’t believe how much better it can be ‑– Page 40 Your Favourite Columns 62 Serviceman’s Log When things go wrong . . . really wrong – by Dave Thompson 96 Circuit Notebook (1) 3.2MHz reference derived from 10MHz (2) Micromite Mk2 development board with Microbridge (3) 12V, 20W instrument practice amplifier 100 Vintage Radio Panasonic “Radarmatic” R-1000 – by Ian Batty Everything Else 2 Editorial Viewpoint   106 Ask SILICON CHIP 4 Mailbag – Your Feedback 111 Market Centre     61 Product Showcase 112 Advertising Index   90 SILICON CHIP ONLINE SHOP 112 Notes and Errata Add an Arduino DCC system to your model train layout and you can have many locos operating at the same time! – Page 44 Build these bookshelf speakers for your TV, hifi or computer system – they’re economical and easy to construct – Page 70 www.facebook.com/siliconchipmagazine