Fullscreen HTML5Med Res (??MB)HTML4

Contents Vol.38, No.01 January 2025 12 Data Centres & Cloud Computing Whenever you watch a video, send an email, buy a product online etc you are using a data centre. So what makes them so important to how the internet is run, and where does the ‘cloud’ fit into it all? By Dr David Maddison, VK3DSM Computer technology Compact HiFi headphone Amplifier 42 Precision Electronics, Part 3 This series covers the basics of precision electronics design. Building on from last month, we move our shunt to the high side and use an instrumentation amplifier to measure the voltage across it. By Andrew Levido Electronic design 80 TCS230 Colour Sensor This little module senses the colour of any object or light source using an array of 64 photodiodes. It can be controlled via most microcontrollers like an Arduino or Micromite. By Jim Rowe Using electronic modules 84 Extracting Data from Micros Older microcontrollers that store code internally are a problem when repairing old equipment. We describe a method we developed to extract ROM (read-only memory) data from an older microcontroller. By Dr Hugo Holden Data preservation 27 Digital Capacitance Meter This Meter measures capacitors from 10pF to 10,000μF and it does it using only through-hole components. It’s portable too, fitting into a UB1 case and powered via a single 9V battery. By Stephen Denholm Test equipment project 33 Compact HiFi Headphone Amp Our new Headphone Amplifier is easy to build, fairly priced and delivers up to 0.9W into 8Ω, 1W into 16Ω and 140mW into 600Ω. In this final part, we go over the PCB design, construction, testing and then start using it. Part 2 by Nicholas Vinen Audio project 60 40A Current Probe Build your own current probe for a fraction of the cost of a commercial unit. Our 5MHz Current Probe is bi-directional, has an output scaling of 0.1V/A, a maximum current of 40A (35A continuous) and ~30 hours of battery life. By Andrew Levido Test equipment project 68 Battery-Powered Model Train By modifying your model train layouts to be battery-powered, you eliminate the need to keep the tracks clean. This is because it doesn’t need to draw power from the tracks that might be dirty or oxidised. By Les Kerr Model railway project Part 2: Page 33 Precision Electronics Part 3 – Page 42 Page 60 5MHz 40A Current probe 2 Editorial Viewpoint 4 Mailbag 39 Circuit Notebook 48 Jaycar Mini Projects 59 Subscriptions 67 Silicon Chip Kits 77 Online Shop 90 Serviceman’s Log 96 Vintage Radio 101 Ask Silicon Chip 103 Market Centre 104 Advertising Index 1. Current indicator for USB power banks 1. LED voltmeter & ammeter 2. LED handbag light 1. Gesture-controlled USB lamp 2. BIG LED clock Monarch “All-American Five” radio by Ian Batty