06 October 2010

We know you've been waiting for it and after more than a year in development, we are delighted to present this world-first high performance DAB+/FM stereo tuner design. It has all the bells and whistles of DAB+ in a sleek pro-quality case, with all features accessible by remote control.

02 October 2010

Digital cameras and memory cards are fantastic - no more worrying about the cost of film, the cost of developing and printing . . . you can shoot to your heart's content. But then you have to "upload" all those photos to your computer. What if you didn't even have to do that - they just appeared on your PC all by themselves?

25 September 2010

Last month we introduced our new electrolytic capacitor reformer and tester - ideal for anyone working with vintage radios, valve equipment or indeed the hobbyist who has gathered a collection of electrolytics over the years. Now you can not only test them, you can (usually!) breathe new life into them if they've suffered from the ravages of time!

21 September 2010

"Charlieplexing" is a multiplexing technique for driving displays and is particularly suited for use with microcontrollers. It reduces the number of outputs required to drive a given display but implementing it can be a little tricky. Here is an in-depth explanation of how it works.

19 September 2010

This receiver is designed to pick up the signal from a hearing loop and will drive a pair of headphones. You can use it with a hearing loop you install in your own home or with commercial loops already installed in halls and churches.

15 September 2010

Many people have hearing impairment. Whether they are watching TV, listening to radio or music, attending a concert, meeting or religious service, they have difficulty hearing, or understanding, what is going on - and that may be in spite of using a hearing aid. Hearing loops, which inductively couple an audio signal to a hearing aid, are an increasingly common method of helping ease that difficulty.

13 September 2010

Some recording devices, especially computer sound cards, have poor sound quality or insufficient gain when used with certain microphones. This tiny module provides a line level output from an unbalanced or balanced microphone and has very low noise and distortion. It runs off 5-20V DC, consuming just 6mA.

09 September 2010

36W fluorescent tubes are the main source of light in supermarkets & retail stores, offices and many factories. There are hundreds of millions of them in use around Australia and many billions in use around the world. But while they are the most efficient light source in offices and the home, they are now being challenged by LED tubes which can directly replace them.

07 September 2010

Marine growth on the hull is the bane of all boat owners. Left unchecked, marine growth slows the boat down considerably and if it's a power boat, leads to large increases in fuel consumption. If it's a yacht, marine growth will also slow it down and make it less manoeuvrable, to the point where it becomes very sluggish. The cure is to haul the boat out of the water every year and water-blast and scrape away all the growth and then coat the hull in toxic anti-fouling paint.

05 September 2010

Interesting circuit ideas which we have checked but not built and tested. Contributions from readers are welcome and will be paid for at standard rates.