Contents
Vol.31, No.11; November 2018
SILICON
CHIP
www.siliconchip.com.au
If everything
goes to plan,
Israel will launch
their lunar lander
early in 2019 and
land on the moon
10 weeks later
– Page 16
Features & Reviews
16 Which tiny country is about to launch a lunar lander?
It’s not the USA, China, the USSR, India etc. You might be very surprised to find
that Israel, a country of just 8.5 million, is planning a “soft” lunar lander mission –
with a 500m “hop” – in the near future (within months) – by Dr David Maddison
36 Australians develop a “supercomputer”
A Perth company has put together a 22 petaflop supercomputer – that’s right up
there with some of the fastest in the world. It’s being used for land and marine
seismic analysis in the hunt for elusive mineral riches – by Geoff Graham
72 El cheapo modules, part 20: two tiny compass modules
These low-cost electronic compass modules incorporate a 3-axis magnetometer
(one even has an accelerometer). You can use them with an Arduino, Micromite,
or other micros which support I 2C communications – by Jim Rowe
Constructional Projects
24 Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree . . .
You can have the brightest (and if you want, the BIGGEST!) Christmas Tree in
your suburb this Yuletide! Start with one, then add as many as you want, up to,
ummm... And we have a special offer on the PCBs and parts – by Tim Blythman
32 USB digital and SPI interface board
We originally developed this for the Christmas Tree project but then realised with
a little extra juggling, it would make the perfect interface board for a huge variety
of projects. And yes, it can still drive the Christmas Tree! – by Tim Blythman
62 Insomnia and Tinnitus killer
Don’t count sheep – use this brilliant little white and/or pink noise generator to
help you sleep . . . or mask annoying Tinnitus. Easy and cheap to build; battery or
plugpack operated and works with earphones or a speaker – by John Clarke
78 GPS-synched, lab-quality frequency reference (Part 2)
Detailed construction and setup details for the superb laboratory-quality
Frequency Reference. Three programmable outputs can be set to between 1MHz
and 100MHz – and you can save up to four presets for each – by Tim Blythman
Your Favourite Columns
57 Serviceman’s Log
It’s torture having a broken phone – with no tools to fix it! – by Dave Thompson
44 Circuit Notebook
(1) Dual mode digital dice
(2) Super-simple “headlight on” reminder
(3) Simple mains soft starter
(4) Freezer temperature monitor and alarm
(5) Satellite TV polarisation indicator
88 Vintage Radio Television
The 1939 HMV 904 5-inch TV set and 3-band radio receiver– by Dr Hugo Holden
Everything Else!
4 Editorial Viewpoint
98 Ask SILICON CHIP
6
Mailbag
–
Your
Feedback
103
Market
Centremagazine
siliconchip.com.au
Australia’s
electronics
86 Product Showcase
104 Advertising Index
96 SILICON CHIP Online Shop 104 Notes and Errata
Developed in
Perth, WA, this
22 petaflop
supercomputer
is one of the
fastest in the
world
– Page 36
The Christmas Tree that
grows as high as you
want it to! Just keep
adding LED PCBs
and they will give
you the best
display in your
street suburb city
– Page 24
Suffer from insomnia or
tinnitus? We can’t
guarantee it will work
but millions of people
world-wide find that
white noise or pink
noise offers real relief.
Low cost unit means
it’s cheap to find out!
– Page 62
Two tiny, low cost
electronic compass
modules (one even
has an accelerometer) to use with
just about any I 2C micro! – Page 72
WOW! This has to be one of the best
laboratory projects ever
published,
anywhere in the
world. Very
accurate, easy
to drive with a
touchscreen display and really
economical too – Page 78
Due to space limitations, we’ve had to
hold over the second part of our new
DC Motor Speed Controller.
Watch for it next month!
November 2018 1
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