"JUST THE (RADIO) FAX, MA’AM"

One of the best things that came out of the Great Depression was the fax machine.

While business and finance ground to a halt during the Great Depression, technology was booming. An engineer named William G.H. Finch had developed a simple and low-cost system for transmitting and receiving facsimile (now known as FAX) by radio. He applied for his first patent in 1935.

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BUILD A FUN WIND SPEED TRACKER WITH A RASPBERRY PI

The tiny plot on my Davis weather station’s LCD screen is not very resolved and I wanted it to be better.

I’ve enjoyed tracking wind speed for years with my Davis weather station. However, the tiny plot on the station’s LCD screen is not very resolved and I wanted it to be better … a whole lot better. The solution: a Raspberry Pi!

MAKE YOUR LED DANCE JUST LIKE A CANDLE

Modulate an LED to respond to the world around it with this simple technique.

If all we do with an LED is use it for steady, dull, boring illumination, we are leaving so much of their performance on the table. Instead, why not take advantage of an LED’s ability to quickly respond to a changing current, and modulate their drive current to turn your room into a responsive environment?

Find out how to make any LED dance to the small randomly unstable air currents that make candles flicker. The technique can be applied to turn any environmentally sensed input into an LED’s or light bulb’s brightness.

GET ASCII DATA FROM PS-2 KEYBOARDS

Convert PS-2 key codes to corresponding ASCII values.

You can buy inexpensive PS-2 keyboards, but they don’t produce ASCII values many applications need. To further complicate things, these keyboards have their own code-transmission protocol. See how to use a system-on-a-chip and a bit of software to convert PS-2 key codes to corresponding ASCII values.

THE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO DIGITAL ELECTRONICS

Learn how the numbers “1” and “0” changed the world of analog and digital electronics.

This article was written specifically for the newcomer to the field of digital electronics. If you want to know how the digital world works, then discover how the numbers “1” and “0” changed the universe of all electronics – digital and analog. Plus, you don’t need to know calculus, algebra, or any complex formulas to understand.

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HAIL, THE LOWLY SUBSTITUTION BOX

Capacitor and resistor substitution boxes are very simple, yet handy pieces of test equipment. Here’s how they work and what’s available.

In decades past, capacitor and resistor substitution boxes were very popular pieces of test equipment. These days, it seems folks have forgotten their value and ease of use. Here’s a discussion on how they work and the different options and styles available, so you can start using them for yourself.

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MICROCONTROLLERS ARE GREAT – BUT DON’T PASS UP CONVENTIONAL ELECTRONICS

Not every application needs a microcontroller, yet often times they’re used in a project unnecessarily.

I’ll show you two examples of circuits that don’t use a micro but are often built with one, and explain some of the logic and theory behind these circuits.

ADJUSTABLE ELECTRONIC LOAD USING INCANDESCENT LAMPS

To properly test a power supply, an adjustable load is just the ticket.

An adjustable electronic (power) load is a very handy piece of test equipment in the development of electronics projects. For example, when you’re building a power supply, there will come a time when you need to “simulate” a load to see how well your design performs. To properly test a power supply, an adjustable load is just the ticket. See how I saved some of my light bulbs from extinction by using them as visual indicators in this adjustable electronic load.

AN ELEGANT APPROACH TO DESIGN A VARIABLE VOLTAGE DIVIDER
These design ideas for voltage dividers really add up.

A voltage divider is probably the most common electronic circuit. Despite its simplicity, it can be a design challenge for many folks, particularly beginners. This article presents a fast and accurate way to design a variable voltage divider with minimum math.

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BUILD A CUSTOMIZABLE MUSICAL DOORBELL

Select from among eight different tone sequences from a single doorbell switch, or up to four doorbell switches, each with its own tone sequence, for different doors/locations.

When my wife and I moved into our current home a few years back, it didn’t have a doorbell. We live on a quiet cul-de-sac, so it really wasn’t a problem as we had few callers. After a while, I installed a wireless doorbell that lasted about three years. Recently, after writing the series of articles on “A Digital Analog — When a PIC Can Replace a 555,” I decided to make one using a PIC.

DEGREES OF AUTOMATION
What’s your preference when it comes to electronic projects: handmade or produced by a machine?

For me, the lure of electronics is primarily the hands-on experimentation and building. If I had to put a number on it, I’d say that anything made by machine over 60 percent can’t be called handmade. What’s your cutoff? Do you even care what percentage is automation vs. handmade? Are you drawn to the workbench, or would you prefer to do your work on a laptop?

CONNECTED CARS ARE COMING
In the coming years, we’ll see more new wireless systems incorporated into every vehicle for improving safety and for aiding in the implementation of self-driving cars.

Cars are already loaded with communications technology. AM, FM, and satellite radios are common, as is a GPS receiver for the navigation system. In the coming years, we’ll be seeing new wireless systems incorporated into every vehicle for improving safety and for aiding in the implementation of self-driving cars. Here’s an update on this communications technology.

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