Fullscreen HTML5Med Res (??MB)HTML4

PUBLISHER’S LETTER www.siliconchip.com.au Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Leo Simpson, B.Bus., FAICD Production Manager Greg Swain, B.Sc.(Hons.) Technical Staff John Clarke, B.E.(Elec.) Peter Smith Ross Tester Jim Rowe, B.A., B.Sc, VK2ZLO Rick Walters Reader Services Ann Jenkinson Advertising Enquiries Leo Simpson Phone (02) 9979 5644 Fax (02) 9979 6503 Regular Contributors Brendan Akhurst Rodney Champness, VK3UG Julian Edgar, Dip.T.(Sec.), B.Ed Mike Sheriff, B.Sc, VK2YFK Philip Watson, MIREE, VK2ZPW Bob Young SILICON CHIP is published 12 times a year by Silicon Chip Publications Pty Ltd. ACN 003 205 490. ABN 49 003 205 490 All material copyright ©. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Printing: Hannanprint, Noble Park, Victoria. Distribution: Network Distribution Company. Subscription rates: $69.50 per year in Australia. For overseas rates, see the subscription page in this issue. Editorial & advertising offices: Unit 8, 101 Darley St, Mona Vale, NSW 2103. Postal address: PO Box 139, Collaroy Beach, NSW 2097. Phone (02) 9979 5644. Fax (02) 9979 6503. E-mail: silchip<at>siliconchip.com.au ISSN 1030-2662 * Recommended and maximum price only. 2  Silicon Chip We use too many batteries How many battery-operated gizmos do you have in your house­hold? Ten, twenty, thirty or more? Not even 10, you say. Well think again. You may easily find that you have more than 50. If you have children with battery-operated toys, you might have a lot more. If you answered “less than 10” to the above question, you may have just been thinking of battery-operated tools such as a portable drill or an electric toothbrush but a little thought quickly rounds up many more and the list grows inexorably. Just step into your car for example. You probably have a keyless remote and a control for your garage door. Got two cars? That’s four battery-operated gizmos already. Now you’re in the family room and there are infrared re­motes for your TV, VCR, DVD player, CD player, home theatre receiver, etc. That’s at least another five and then there are the memory backup batteries in the TV and VCR, plus the quartz clock on the wall. And you probably have other quartz clocks and at least half a dozen quartz watches between you and your partn­er, so we’re already up to 20 or so battery devices. Smoke detectors, anyone? Cordless telephone? Mobile (cell) phone? Toothbrush, Shaver, Torches? Count a battery for each plus at least one battery in the burglar alarm. That’s probably anoth­er 10, making around 30 so far. Step into your office. Your computer has a backup battery. And you probably have another entertainment system or TV with remote controls for both. There’s probably an LCD clock on your desk. How about a transistor radio? There are probably a few of those spread around the house. Your battery device count is probably at least 35 by now. OK, step into your son’s or daughter’s rooms. Hell, it’s battery city in there (if you can see any clear space)! There are the remotes for their entertainment systems, TV, games console, Discman player (these eat batteries!), ghetto blaster, mobile phone (again), watches (these are fashion accessories – they need at least five!) and LED jewellery. If you have two teenage child­ren, the battery device count is probably already over 50 and there is still your workshop. Battery-powered tools? Yep, there’s a few of those too. And what about big boys’ (and girls’) toys? Cameras, cam­corders? Radio-controlled cars, boats, planes? Computer-con­trolled telescope? (OK - that’s a rare one!) You see what I mean? By now, if you have a normal household you probably have a count approaching or exceeding 70 or more battery-operated devices in your household. All told, if you took all these batteries out and lined them up, you could easily have well over a hundred batter­ies. Well, now you can see that this is getting to be a really big problem. Not only do they cost a heap to replace but when you throw them away, they present a disposal problem. No wonder mercury is no longer a component of most batteries - just as well. What can you do about it? Not a great deal, but next time you are considering purchasing a new appliance, does it really need a battery-operated remote gizmo? And can you eliminate some of your remotes by just using a universal remote in the family room? Maybe your next watch (do you really need another watch anyway?) can be a non-battery type; they still make them. Naturally, if you can run a battery-operated device from a plugpack, you should do so. That is why we try and make all our published battery-operated circuits able to run from a plugpack, if at all possible. Of course, if you can use re­charge­­-ables, you should do so, although they are not practical in many applications. Finally, a tip: you can recycle some batteries. After your children have “used up” the batteries in their Discmans, etc, they can still be used to power low-current devices like clocks, some remotes and so on. Leo Simpson www.siliconchip.com.au