SILICON CHIP
PUBLISHER'S LE'l-l'ER
Publisher & Editor-In-Chief
Leo Simpson, B.Bus.
Editor
Greg Swain, B.Sc.(Hons.)
Technical Staff
John Clarke, B.E.(Elec.)
Robert Flynn
Regular Contributors
Neville Williams, FIREE, VK2XV
Bryan Maher, M.E. B.Sc.
Jim Yalden, VK2YGY
Garry Cratt, VK2YBX
Jim Lawler, MTETIA
Photography
Bob Donaldson
Editorial Advisory Panel
Philip Watson, MIREE, VK2ZPW
Norman Marks
Steve Payor, B.Sc., B.E .
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2
SILICON CHIP
The fascination
of electronics
While the vast majority of the population may be keen to have the
latest electronic whizbang, only a relatively small proportion of
people really know what makes the products of this technological
age tick.
Take such a ubiquitous product as the quartz controlled watch
with an analog movement or liquid crystal display. These are a
miracle of electronics. They usually run from a 32kHz crystal (actually 32,768Hz) and have a 15-stage divider to derive one second
pulses which drive a very efficient stepper motor and gear train in
the case of analog movements. In the case where a liquid crystal
display is used, the one-second pulses drive a counter which then
drives the display.
Either way, the watch will be powered from a tiny 1.5V silver oxide cell which may last 12 to 18 months or even more in some cases.
And the accuracy of these mass-produced timepieces is such that it
would amaze watch manufacturers from twenty years ago.
Yet if you ask a typical person why the battery in his watch lasts
so long, he is likely to reply that batteries have improved enormously in the last few years. Well, batteries have improved but not to
that extent. The real reason that watch batteries last is that the
single IC used to drive a watch needs only a few microamps to
work. It really does run on the "sniff of an oily rag" in the electronic
sense.
And what about those liquid crystal displays? Isn't the concept of
a "liquid crystal" fascinating? You can make a liquid transparent
or opaque just by applying a small AC voltage to it. Amazing. That
such a phenomenon can be used to create complex moving displays
and even replace the television tube is mind-boggling indeed.
To us, these are just two of a vast number of facets of electronics
which are truly fascinating. In a way, electronics is a modern for~
of black magic. The practitioners of this art use black boxes and are
able to achieve feats which were impossible a generation ago. Electronic magic allows us to store and process vast quantities of mforma tion, enables millions of people to communicate over vast
distances simultaneously, and allows us to stretch and use our
natural resources much more efficiently.
It is our business to report on this magic, to translate its language
and explain its diverse manifestations, and to show how you can
use it for your benefit. Electronics really is fascinating.
Leo Simpson
