Electronics Now articles from August 1997

Electronics Now archives from August 1997

Hacking the Pilot. (personal digital assistant)
August 1, 1997... US Robotics (USR) is known to most as a manufacturer of modems. Several years ago, USR purchased a then-unknown company called palm computing. Palm's claim to fame is development of the first widely successful PDA (personal digital assistant),...

Servicing microwave ovens.
August 1, 1997... Can you remember back to when you actually had to use the real oven to defrost a tv dinner, or when the term "nuke" was not used for anything other than bombs and power reactors? While those days might seem prehistoric, they only predate VCRs and...

Build the poor man's plasma globe.
August 1, 1997... This plasma globe uses an ordinary, decorative light bulb - and the power supply is great for other high-voltage experiments! Man has been fascinated by high-voltage electricity ever since our distant ancestors became smart enough to realize...

All about switching power supplies.
August 1, 1997... While more complex than their linear counterparts, where efficiency and size are concerns, switching supplies are hard to beat. Power supplies are used to convert an AC-line voltage into some fixed or variable value of DC voltage and current....

Make your own PC boards using toner-transfer products. (printed circuit boards)
August 1, 1997... Once you've learned how, there's no easier way to make PC boards, especially if you need more than one. What's the easiest way to make ten or twenty identical printed circuit boards? Well, while there's many different techniques you could use,...

Build the D.I.Y. function generator. (do-it-yourself)
August 1, 1997... FUNCTION GENERATOR Here's a handy way to bring your test bench out into the field: a function generator that is small, lightweight, and battery-powered! By now, most hobbyists are familiar with - and have possibly even tried - one or more of...

Understanding source impedance, electrochemistry basics, the energy density of gasoline, and more.
August 1, 1997... An independent researcher has sent me a pair of new energy cells to evaluate. He genuinely felt that those devices revealed his new battery breakthrough. The cells easily produced one net watt of power. On examination, the electrochemical devices...