Electronics Now articles from November 1998

Electronics Now archives from November 1998

Design circuits from scratch to finished product on your PC with EDWin NC. (Electronic Design for Windows - Non Commercial software)
November 1, 1998... The core of this magazine's coverage, and the main interest of most who read it, is electronics circuitry. Most readers have tried their hand at building at least a basic circuit, and many are accomplished builders. And even those who have...

Using electronics to beat smugglers. (Ultrasonic Pulse Echo Detector and Material Identification System)
November 1, 1998... Many experts believe that the collapse of the Soviet Union has made the world an even more dangerous place. That's because illicit material is being smuggled across the borders of the former Soviet Union and its former satellites on their way...

Keep in touch - any time, anywhere. (Siemens Corporate Research Inc's Delivering Information in a Cellular Environment system)
November 1, 1998... A prototype system developed by scientists at Siemens Corporate Research, Inc. (SCR) allows e-mail messages or World Wide Web pages to be accessed without a laptop computer. The DICE (Delivering Information in a Cellular Environment) system...

Ultra-small computers? (study on ballistic conductance)
November 1, 1998... A team of scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology recently observed ballistic conductance - a phenomenon in which electrons pass through a conductor without heating it - at room temperature in multi-walled carbon nanotubes up to...

Criminal records online. (Georgia)
November 1, 1998... Officials in Georgia s state, superior, and juvenile courts are using the latest in information technology to help put a lid on crime. This summer, several Georgia counties gained online access to a new management information system that...

Specific problems, interesting signals, and more. (CD players and CD-ROM drives)
November 1, 1998... This month, we will conclude our series on CD players and CD-ROM drives with some notes on some common problems that occur with a variety of pioneer models. Then, we'll take a look at the exciting world of the CD player "eye pattern" and other...

Comparative anatomy. (implementing a small C compiler for a CPU or MCU)
November 1, 1998... Last month, we began a project to implement a C compiler for the AVR line of microcontrollers. We could start from scratch, but there's an easier way: the small c compiler first published in Dr. Dobbs journal almost 20 years ago. That compiler...

Digital multimeters. (Fluke Corp's 80 Series III digital multimeters)
November 1, 1998... Designed for electronic and electrical technicians and for electricians, the 80 Series III digital multimeters (DMMs) from Fluke provide high-performance measurement accuracy. Durable, rugged, and highly portable, these units are true rms,...

A solar-powered robot bug. (the Solbot)(Cover Story)
November 1, 1998... It creeps. It crawls. It constantly searches for light on which to feed. It's also as fun to watch as it is to build! The concept of robots and robot design has captivated the mind and imagination of people since antiquity. Indeed, there have...

A speed-doubling adapter for the high-speed logic analyzer.
November 1, 1998... With this simple adapter and enhanced software, the High-Speed Logic Analyzer can read data at an astounding 80-MHz sampling rate! The High-Speed Logic Analyzer that was featured in the March 1998 issue of Electronics Now was designed to be...

Mobius circuit. (experiments)
November 1, 1998... Experiment with a basic IC building block - the current mirror. Take a piece of typing paper or notebook paper and cut a 1/2-inch-wide by 11-inch-long strip from it. Bend it in a circle as shown in Fig. 1A so that the ends overlap slightly....

Fast but forgotten. (sampling oscilloscopes)
November 1, 1998... Despite the fact that many modern engineers have never seen one, the once popular sampling oscilloscope is still one of the fastest display devices available. These days about equal numbers of digital and analog oscilloscopes are being sold....

No more accidents. (Intersection Collission Avoidance Threat Detection System)
November 1, 1998... Here's how electronics technology might someday eliminate one of the most common types of traffic accident. You're about to make a left turn across a busy intersection. Suddenly, an icon depicting a vehicle starts flashing on the Heads-Up...

Pseudoscience today, theater lighting controls, and more.
November 1, 1998... In my opinion, finding a source of "unlimited free energy" would be one of the most heinous possible crimes against humanity. The unavoidable consequences of such a discovery would include turning the planet into a cinder. Even so, great...