SILICON CHIP
Publisher & Editor-In-Chief
Leo Simpson, B.Bus.
Editor
Greg Swain, B.Sc.(Hons.)
Technical Staff
John Clarke, B.E.(Elec.)
Robert Flynn
Advertising Manager
Paul Buchtmann
Regular Contributors
Neville Williams, FIREE, VK2XV
Bryan Maher, M.E. B.Sc.
Jim Yalden, VK2YGY
Garry Cratt, VK2YBX
Jim Lawler, MTETIA
John Hill
David Whitby
Photography
Bob Donaldson
Edltorlal Advisory Panel
Philip Watson, VK2ZPW
Norman Marks
Steve Payor, B.Sc., B.E.
SILICON CHIP is published 1 2 times
a year by Silicon Chip Publications Pty Ltd. All material
copyright (c) . No part of the contents of this publication may be
reproduced without prior written
consent of the publisher. Kitset
suppliers may not photostat articles without written permission
of the publisher.
Typesetting/makeup: Magazine
Printers Pty Ltd, Waterloo, NSW
2017 .
Printing: Masterprint Pty Ltd,
Dubbo, NSW 2830.
Distribution: Network Distribution
Company.
Subscription rates are currently
$42 per year (12 issues). Outside Australia the cost is $62 per
year surface mail or $1 20 per
year air mail.
Liability: Devices or circuits
described in SILICON CHIP may be
covered by patents. SILICON CHIP
disclaims any liability for the infringement of such patents by the
manufacturing or selling of any
such equipment.
Address all mail to: Silicon Chip
Publications Pty Ltd, PO Box
139, Collaroy Beach, NSW
2097 . Phone (02) 982 3935 .
ISSN 1030-2662
* Recommended and maximum
Australian price only.
2
SILICON CHIP
PUBLISHER'S LE'l.l'ER
The widening scope
of activity for
electronics enthusiasts
Since we started SILICON CHIP it is evident that there has been a certain amount of confusion over what the name means. Some people
think it refers to computers because they associate the terms "silicon
chip" or "micro chip" with computers. That's not unexpected really,
since the media have been rabbiting on for years about the microchips
used in these wonderful new beasts, computers.
It is also not uncommon to find SILICON CHIP stacked up against computer mags in the newsagents. This, in spite of the banner on the front
of the magazine proclaiming the fact that it is "Australia's new electronics magazine''.
Some people who are well acquainted with electronics sometimes
also associate SILICON CHIP with computers because it has seemed to
them that most recent electronic devices have been computer related.
That too, is not an unexpected reaction. Over the last ten years or so,
the technical media have bored their readers to death with reports of
the latest micro whiz-bangs. Even the semiconductor companies
themselves have contributed to this impression, with floods of press
releases on the subject.
In fact, everywhere you read about electronics it has seemed that
the mainstream activity has been microprocessors. Well, we're here
to tell you that isn't so. Since we started work on this magazine some
ten or so months ago, we have been collecting as much data as we
could from the major electronic components distributors. The shelves
in the SILICON CHIP offices are literally groaning under the weight of
these data books and they are being added to almost on a daily basis.
We're having trouble keeping up with it all. And the vast majority of
this data has little do with microprocessors.
.
The truth is that the last few years have brought forth an explosion
of new devices from the semiconductor companies. There are large
numbers of new thyristors, bipolar transistors, power Mosfets and
many other discrete devices, optoelectronic devices of all sorts, and
thousands of logic and linear devices related to virtually every field of
electronic activity: consumer, automotive, telecommunications
(telephone, video, radio), military and so on.
A few years ago, a colleague of ours predicted that in about ten
years' time, there would be little scope for activity by electronics enthusiasts. He was wrong, by a very long shot. Today there is vastly
more scope for electronics enthusiasts, thanks to the incredible
numbers of new devices continually becoming available.
SILICON CHIP is devoted to the electronics enthusiast and to the vast
scope of electronics which permeates every facet of our lives. Yes,
silicon chips are used in computers but they are also incorporated into
or have a vital impact on every other product in use today.
Leo Simpson
