Beyond the Arduino — Part 5by Andrew Retallack Please DO interrupt me! This time, take a look at how to handle interrupts in your Atmel AVR embedded projects, and how they can make your projects more efficient and easier to develop.
FPGAs for the Hobbyistby Ryan Clarke This tutorial will get you up and running with field programmable gate arrays — no prior experience required.
Reviving a Hi-Fi Classic: the Harman/Kardon A-401 Stereophonic Control Amplifierby J.W. Koebel Vintage stereo equipment just has a special sound and presence that are worth preserving. Follow along on a recent restoration of a 38 year old amp.
Power Sources: The Good, the Bad, and the Uglyby Eric Bogatin What you don’t know about your project’s power source may be the problem. Learn the most important features you should care about for four common power sources, how to measure them, and what to expect.
Projects
Modify a Kill-A-Watt EZ Power Meter for Low Voltage Operationby Kevin O’Connor Discover a simple modification that safely powers the Kill-A-Watt meter for accurate operation in the low (10%-20%) voltage regime.
An Ultra Modern Shortwave Radioby George R. Steber A simple circuit, a USB TV tuner, your computer, and some powerful (free!) software combine to make an amazing software defined communications receiver for around $25.
Columns
Q&A by Tim Brown Reader Questions Answered Here Topics this month include: a CR18650 battery vs. cell charging; help with vintage PA amps; and GFI breakers.
PICAXE Primer by Ron Hackett PICAXE-PC Serial Communications Part 2 We’ll continue our exploration of hardware serial communication between a PICAXE and a PC.
Open Communication by Louis E. Frenzel Smartwatches Need Communications Too The new Apple Watch acts as a peripheral device to your smartphone by utilizing multiple wireless links between the two devices.
The Ham’s Wireless Workbench by H. Ward Silver All About Ferrite Rings, beads, cores ... find out exactly what ferrite is and what makes it ideal for a variety of uses in electronics.
The Design Cycle by Fred Eady Building a Multipurpose Communications Board Clear your bench and tin your soldering iron. In this installment, we’re going to scratch build a multipurpose embedded communications board. While the soldering iron is cooling down, we’ll fire up the Microchip XC32 C compiler under MPLABX and bring our new garage-brewed creation to life.
