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Practical Electronics Volume 54. No. 1 January 2025 ISSN 2632 573X Contents Projects and Circuits High-quality Microphone Preamplifier by Phil Prosser This small box runs from a plugpack and offers a flat frequency response, very low distortion, low noise and adjustable gain. It fits in a very rugged diecast aluminium enclosure and is great for both stage and studio work! 14 42 USB to PS/2 Keyboard & Mouser Adaptors by Tim Blythman Because PS/2 is very easy to interface with a microcontroller, kit computers like the VGA PicoMite include a PS/2 keyboard interface. This Adaptor allows you to connect a USB keyboard or mouse to a unit that expects equivalent PS/2 devices. 52 Raspberry Pi-based Clock Radio, part two by Stefan Keller-Tuberg This new clock radio design can act as a media player and will synchronise alarms between multiple clocks. Last month we described how it works. Now it’s time to get into the construction process. We’ll also explain how to use its features. 70 Secure Remote Mains Switch, part two by John Clarke Last month, we introduced the new Remote Mains Switch, which uses rolling codes for security and supports up to 16 keyfob transmitter per receiver. In this issue, we have all the construction, testing and set-up instructions. Series, Features and Columns The Fox Report by Barry Fox How to avoid being fobbed off by an AI bot 3 Net Work by Alan Winstanley The origins of Veroboard (stripboard), a product that transformed our hobby, Ryobi portable soldering irons and using tool batteries to power other devices. 4 Max’s Cool Beans by Max The Magnificent Weird & Wonderful Arduino Projects, part one: DIP LED bar graph displays 7 The History of Electronics, part one by Dr David Maddison 26 We wouldn’t have computers, smartphones or artificial intelligence without the work of thousands of people who created the foundations of modern electronics. Circuit Surgery by Ian Bell Signal filtering in the digital domain 33 Techno Talk by Max The Magnificent Marvelling at how good inexpensive test equipment is these days 38 The Quason VL6180X laser rangefinder module by Jim Rowe 39 This module uses infrared (IR) light to accurately sense the proximity of objects to well over 100mm. It’s based on FlightSense technology by ST Microelectronics. Precision Electronics, part one by Andrew Levido 64 The first article in a series about precision electronics design. It covers a range of topics and uses real examples and real components to demonstrate the concepts. Regulars and Services Made in Australia & the UK. Written in Britain, Australia, the USA and Ireland. Read everywhere. © Silicon Chip Publications Pty Ltd 2024 Copyright in all drawings, photographs, articles, technical designs, software and intellectual property published in Practical Electronics is fully protected, and reproduction or imitation in whole or in part are expressly forbidden. The February 2025 issue of Practical Electronics will be published on Friday, 3rd of January 2025 (see p80). Practical Electronics | January | 2025 Editorial Two new series for the magazine Reader services – Editorial and Advertising Departments Exclusive Microchip reader offer Win a Microchip Explorer 16/32 Development Kit Subscribe to Practical Electronics and save money Practical Electronics PCB Service PCBs for Practical Electronics projects Classified ads and Advertiser index Next month! – highlights of our next issue of Practical Electronics 2 2 25 63 76 79 80 Renewals paid by PayPal, Visa and Mastercard are now handled via our website: www.electronpublishing.com 1