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Coming up in Silicon Chip Balanced Inputs & Attenuator for the USB SuperCodec Rather than resting on his laurels, Phil Prosser has produced an add-on board for his SuperCodec USB Sound Card which adds two balanced inputs and selectable attenuation settings of 0dB, 10dB, 20dB or 40dB. It fits in the same case as the SuperCodec and provides professional balanced audio recording, plus makes it an even more potent audio measurement system. MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) Advertising Index Altronics...............................81-84 Ampec Technologies................... 9 Dave Thompson...................... 111 Digi-Key Electronics.................... 3 Emona Instruments................. IBC We’ve used MEMS devices before but haven’t described how they work in detail. Dr David Maddison’s article explains what they are, how they are made and shows the many different types of MEMS available. The article includes electron microscope images showing the amazing precision of these tiny devices. Hare & Forbes............................. 5 Mini WiFi LCD BackPack Keith Rippon Kit Assembly...... 111 All of our “BackPack” projects which combine a microcontroller with a colour touchscreen have been popular with constructors; some incredibly so. But one thing they have generally lacked is WiFi connectivity. This one not only provides WiFi but also contains a powerful 32-bit processor and is surprisingly inexpensive! Jaycar............................ IFC,53-60 LD Electronics......................... 111 LEDsales................................. 111 Ten LED Christmas Ornaments Microchip Technology......... 7,OBC We will have multiple Christmas projects in our October & November issues, including two different, impressive LED Stars that you can fit atop your Christmas tree (or just put on display). Plus, we will describe eight mini LED Ornaments which are cheap and easy to build, and look great. They come in a variety of different colours, and you can also mix and match LED colours to your heart’s content. Ocean Controls......................... 11 The First Computer Graphics Cards Silicon Chip Binders............... 111 Dr Hugo Holden describes, in detail, the Matrox ALT-256 and ALT-512 graphics cards. These were two very early expansion boards (the ALT-256 almost certainly being the very first) which allowed computers with an S-100 bus to display video graphics on a monitor. You can even gang up three ALT-256s to display in colour. Silicon Chip PDFs on USB....... 89 Note: these features are planned or are in preparation and should appear within the next few issues of Silicon Chip. The October 2020 issue is due on sale in newsagents by Thursday, September 24th. Expect postal delivery of subscription copies in Australia between September 22nd and October 9th. Premier Batteries...................... 41 RayMing PCB & Assembly.......... 4 Silicon Chip Shop...........104-105 The Loudspeaker Kit.com......... 63 Tronixlabs................................ 111 Vintage Radio Repairs............ 111 Wagner Electronics..................... 6 Notes & Errata Arduino-based Digital RF Power Meter, August 2020: in Fig.5, IC1 is labelled IC4. Also, the capacitor referred to in the text as Cobp is actually Clpf. GPS-Synchronised Analog Clock Driver, February 2017: on page 39, the text states “For either type of clock, the clock pulse width can be changed in steps of 1ms…”. This is incorrect; only the sweep hand firmware offers 1ms steps. For clocks with stepping hands, the pulse width can only be set from 16ms to 96ms in 8ms steps. One reader found that a 56ms pulse width gave reliable drive with a battery voltage as low as 2V with his clock. 230V 10A Universal Motor Speed Controller, February & March 2014: the STGW40N120KD IGBT used in this project is no longer available. Several suitable alternatives are available; the best option is the IGW40N120H3FKSA1 (1200V, 80A). specific machine. I don’t remember what I used to produce the G-code; I suggest Googling for “dxf to gcode grbl”. DXF2GCODE looks like it is worth trying (see http://grauonline. de/wordpress/?page_id=3211), but I can’t vouch for it. 112 Silicon Chip Many 3D printers use G-code too, so 3D printer ‘slicing’ software might create workable G-code. Finally, the Linksprite Control Software can be used to send this to the machine. I would definitely have my finger on the power switch while tryAustralia’s electronics magazine ing this for the first time; something as simple as a units mismatch could cause your mill to do something unanticipated. Since the Linksprite CNC runs the ‘grbl’ software, you can use that as a keyword in searches for tools. SC siliconchip.com.au