Electronics Now articles from April 1998

Electronics Now archives from April 1998

Equipment report. (innovative hardware and software applications for notebook computers)
April 1, 1998... NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS DAQMETER 4050 VIRTUAL DMM Notebook computers are becoming more powerful and more affordable almost every day. It seems likely that someday soon it'll be a coin toss as to whether you buy a portable TV set or just spend a...

New technology for finding felons, terrorists, and evidence. (Enclosed Space Detection System)
April 1, 1998... A convict tries to escape from prison by hiding in a secret compartment he built into a truck. He is quickly detected by guards using a device that detects his heartbeat: Airport security detains a terrorist bent on mayhem when he walks through a...

Cleaning a disc, repairing scratched discs, and more.
April 1, 1998... We'll begin this month's discussion of cd-play-er/cd-rom-drive repair by looking at one of the most common sources of problems - the discs themselves. Then we'll lay some of the groundwork we'll need to get into the process of troubleshooting...

Stayin' alive: the great pilot plot. (new chart-recorder application HiLo)
April 1, 1998... Surprise, surprise: reading characters one at a time from a serial port is a high-overhead, slow process. Reading characters in blocks runs much faster, almost acceptably so. To back up a step, we've been working the past few months on a...

Build the Data Monitor.(Cover Story)
April 1, 1998... Monitor and records events with this sophisticated unit that is both easy to build and use. Imagine how useful it would be to be able to monitor and record information about your environment for extended periods of time without having to be...

Build this Personality Module for your Data Monitor. (General-Purpose I/O-Temperature Personality Module)
April 1, 1998... A Personality Module for the Data Monitor will get you started with monitoring digital and analog inputs. You can even track the temperature at the same time! By now, you've probably studied the Data Monitor described elsewhere in this issue....

Experience the Fechner Phenomenon. (optical effect discovered by scientist Gustav Fechner)
April 1, 1998... Explore the mysteries of human perception, or just impress your friends with a piece of workbench "magic." How would you like to enjoy some workbench entertainment, and, at the same time, explore the basics of human perception? You can do that...

Restoring a 'reel' recorder.
April 1, 1998... This month we look at the final steps in bringing your vintage open-reel recorder back to its original glory. Now that all of the preliminary steps described last month have been satisfactorily completed, you should have a "functioning" tape...

All about Quadrature, and more. (numerical integration)
April 1, 1998... Most science students and engineers should learn and apply this essential rule: an hour spent in the library is worth a month in the lab. Same goes for engineers. That's because there's not much point in doing any personal lab work or any product...