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Contents Vol.30, No.6; June 2017 SILICON CHIP www.siliconchip.com.au Features & Reviews 12 The Flettner Rotating Sail and the Magnus Force When the wind blows on a rotating surface, strange forces are generated. It’s called the Magnus Force and a century-old application, the Flettner Rotating Sail, is currently being trialled on some huge ships – by Ross Tester 38 LTSpice – simulating and circuit testing SPICE is a powerful, yet easy-to-use tool which allows you to use a computer to simulate how a circuit will behave without actually having to build it. We show you how to use this FREE program – by Nicholas Vinen 78 Getting Started with the Micromite, Part 4 This month we look at some of the more specialised Micromite features, such as power saving, using touch-sensitive LCD panels and handling button presses, storing data in non-volatile memory and interrupt routines – by Geoff Graham It all started when Flettner fitted rotating masts to a ship and sailed it across the North Sea. Now large ship-owners are taking notice – Page 12 86 Review: Keysight’s 9917A 18GHz Spectrum Analyser This portable powerhouse has far more features and options than anything else we’ve seen – in fact, we couldn’t even play with all of them in the short time we had. But what we did try left us very impressed – by Nicholas Vinen Constructional Projects Woops – wrong Spice! But LTSpice can help you understand complex circuits without building them – Page 38 18 All-new 10-Octave Stereo Graphic Equaliser Not only does it look pretty snazzy in its laser-cut black acrylic case, it has performance to match. But the really good news is it’s much cheaper than earlier designs and (despite using some SMDs) is easy to build – by John Clarke 28 Arduino-based Digital Inductance & Capacitance Meter It will measure inductance (L) from 10nH to 100mH+ and capacitance (C) from 1pF to 2.7uF – much more accurately than DMM-based units. Based on an Arduino Uno (or equivalent) it also offers digital readout – by Jim Rowe 61 El Cheapo Modules, Part 7: LED Matrix displays It has a MAX7219 serial LED display chip and comes complete with a plug-in 8x8 LED matrix display. But it can also drive an 8-digit 7-segment LED display – by Jim Rowe WOW! Our new Stereo Graphic Equaliser not only looks the part . . . it has specs that match its appearance – Page 18 66 New Marine Ultrasonic Anti-Fouling Unit, Part 2 Last month we introduced our new Ultrasonic Anti-Fouling Unit to keep barnacles (and other marine growth) under control. Now we get onto the good part: putting it all together and mounting it in your boat – by John Clarke Your Favourite Columns 46 Serviceman’s Log Fixing the food processor that wouldn’t – by Dave Thompson 94 Vintage Radio You asked for more Arduino projects . . . well, here’s an Arduino-based Digital Readout LC Meter that’s accurate and easy to build – Page 28 HMV’s 1951 portable model B61D – by Associate Professor Graham Parslow 100 Circuit Notebook (1) Low power switched capacitor DC/DC converter for rechargeable batteries (2) PICAXE-based dual temperature datalogger (3) Arduino 3D printer heat bed controller Everything Else! 2 Publisher’s Letter      4 Mailbag – Your Feedback   siliconchip.com.au 92 Product Showcase   104 SILICON CHIP Online Shop   106 111 112 112 Ask SILICON CHIP Market Centre Advertising Index Notes and Errata If you own a decentsized boat, you must read our article on building a highperformance Ultrasonic AntiFouling Unit – Page 66 June 2017  1 www.facebook.com/siliconchipmagazine