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Contents Vol.23, No.12; December 2010 SILICON CHIP www.siliconchip.com.au Features 11 Soldering SMDs: It’s Becoming Unavoidable SMDs are not going to go away, so if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em! Here’s a look at the equipment you need to solder the little blighters, as well as standard through-hole parts – by Nicholas Vinen Recycle Your Cordless Drill – Page 20. 20. 20 Recycle Your Cordless Drill – Make It Corded Don’t throw your cordless drill away when the battery pack dies. Convert it to “corded” operation instead and extend its useful life – by Leo Simpson Pro jects To Build 26 A Hot-Wire Cutter With Inbuilt Heat Controller This hot-wire cutter is just the shot for cutting polystyrene, plastic bottles and polyurethane materials. Its power level is adjustable and it actually melts the material to give a clean, precise cut without mess – by John Clarke 36 Digital/Analog USB Data Logger Easy-to-build design logs data to a memory card and can read from many different types of analog and digital sensors. It features a real time clock calendar (RTCC) and a USB port to interface with a PC – by Mauro Grassi 66 Digital Lighting Controller For Christmas Light Shows, Pt.3 How to use the Windows-based sequencing program to choreograph your Christmas Lights display – by Nicholas Vinen Hot-Wire Cutter With Inbuilt Heat Controller – Page 26. 78 A High-Quality DAB+/FM Tuner, Pt.3 Third and final article gives the driving details and explains the menu system. We also describe how the firmware can be upgraded if a later version is subsequently released – by Mauro Grassi 87 Build A Hearing Loop Level Meter, Pt.2 Here’s how to build a calibration coil and adjust the tester so that it gives accurate results – by John Clarke Special Columns 44 Serviceman’s Log Hair today, gone tomorrow – by the Serviceman 57 Circuit Notebook (1) Using The LM335Z For Temperature Measurement; (2) Dual Motor Control Circuit For Robotics Applications; (3) Wien Bridge Oscillator Uses Paralleled Op Amps; (4) LEDs & Ladder 2010; (5) Lightning Detector Uses 555 Timer Digital/Analog USB Data Logger – Page 36. Calibrating The Hearing Loop Meter – Page 87. 92 Vintage Radio The Philco 4-Valve Mantel Set – by Rodney Champness Departments   2   4 19 65 Publisher’s Letter Mailbag Order Form Product Showcase siliconchip.com.au 96 Ask Silicon Chip 99 Notes & Errata 102 Market Centre December 2010  1