Fullscreen HTML5Med Res (??MB)HTML4

PRODUCT SHOWCASE OK, so what do you do with ’em? Branco Justic, head honcho at Oatley Electronics, has a well-earned reputation for sniffing out some intriguing products and then selling them at bargain prices. One we spotted in last month’s Oatley advert in SILICON CHIP is no exception. It’s the innards of a 240V ceramic fan heater. Apparently these failed QC so they weren’t suitable for use as a heater but Branco couldn’t resist them – or their controller PC boards (a couple of pallets of them!). There are three separate ~800W ceramic heaters built into one unit, each individually connectable. Each is about 500Ω cold but around 65Ω hot (not linear). A 240V 80mm diecast fan blows air through the elements. At $15 each you’re getting a very cheap fan (priced diecast fans lately?) and the heater elements effectively for nothing. The question is, what can you use the ceramic heater for? Branco suggests they could be good for a variety of heating purposes (incubators, photo chemicals, etc), especially as they still produce good heat down to about 50V or so. Or perhaps they could form a high power dummy load. Or an interesting desk ornament/paper weight. Put on your thinking caps and see what you come up with! The heaters are also supplied with a heavy duty 3-pole rocker switch. The controller boards are sold separately (with connection diagram but no circuits available). They have some triacs, opto couplers, a transformer and even a couple of mercury (“tilt”) switches on them, all for just $12.00. Contact: Oatley Electronics Ph: (02) 9584 3563 Fax: (02) 9584 3561 Website: www.oatleyelectronics.com Source for FETs with pilot lights . . . AC Electronics have been appoin-ted Australasian distributors of the Svetlana range of high quality audio vacuum tubes. This includes the popular EL34 and 6L6GC tubes as well as the 300B, 6550C, KT88 and EL509. The long awaited Svetlana 12AX7 has just been released. In addition they are stocking the large range of Golden Dragon tubes including the KT66 and KT88 GEC look-alikes and the super 300BM, plus the EI Yugoslavian Elite Gold series covering 12AT7, 12AU7, 12AX7 together with 6CG7, 6DJ8, 12BH7A and EL84 – all with gold plated pins. For industrial and high-power transmitting requirements they distribute Global Tubes of the USA. To complement their vacuum tubes, AC Electronics have also been ap- pointed distributors of the Hammond range of “Classic” audio transformers for single-ended and push-pull/ultra-linear use. They will also supply Hammond universal power transformers and chokes. Contact: AC Electronics PO Box 487, Drysdale Vic 3222 Ph: (03) 5257 2297 Fax: (03) 5257 1773 email: acourtney<at>pacific.net.au Weather forecast station has wireless (LIPD band) outside sensors Everyone is interested in the weather – and what it will do next! Jaycar Electronics have a rather neat weather station which gives you the current temperature both inside and out (outside via a 433MHz wireless sensor) along with relative humidity and temperature trends. It also has an alarm clock and calendar inbuilt and it even has a storm warning alert and over/under temperature alerts. The main display unit is 117 x 127 x 27mm so is large enough to be seen from quite a distance. Contact: Extra sensors are avail- Jaycar Electronics able (approx. 30m range). PO Box 6424, Silverwater NSW 1811 With 1 sensor the unit Ph: (02) 9741 8555 Fax: (02) 9741 8500 (XC0295) is priced at Website: www.jaycar.com.au $99.00 80  Silicon Chip www.siliconchip.com.au Radio Projects for the Amateur Volume 2, the sequel to the now-out-of-print Volume 1, presents about 50 projects of interest to amateur radio operators, covering everything from receivers and transmitters through to test equipment and even antennas and masts. The projects are presented very much in “amateur” style with hand-drawn circuit diagrams and component layouts. That’s not a criticism, it’s a style which many “home brewers” have become accustomed to because that’s how they keep their own circuits etc filed away! It’s available direct from the author/publisher (see below) or through the WIA VK2 Division bookshop (http://members.ozemail.com.au/~vk2wi/bookshop/index.htm). Price including GST is $24.95. AUDIO MODULES broadcast quality Contact: Drew Diamond 45 Gatters Rd, Wonga Park Vic 3115 New clamp meters, tough leather cases from Fluke Fluke has introduced a new, smaller- size range of clamp meters that fit more easily into tight places. The 321 and 322 meters measure to 400A AC and 600V AC, up to 400W. The 3322 will measure to 600V DC and has a 40A range for accurate low-current measurement. Both feature auto shut-off, soft-sided carry gase, test leads, batteries and two year warranty. Also new to the Fluke range are three sizes of tough, premium cases, made from top grain leather with rugged snaps, reinforced rivets and heavy duty stitching. There is one case for meters/test leads, one for electrical testers and another for all other accessories. All can be worn on a belt. Manufactured in Australia Harbuch Electronics Pty Ltd 9/40 Leighton Pl. HORNSBY 2077 Ph (02) 9476-5854 Fx (02) 9476-3231 Ultra-mini four-port USB hub Contact: Fluke Australia Ph: (02) 8850 3333 Fax (02) 8850 3300 Website: www.fluke.com How do you easily find a satellite signal? With less and less analog transmission, finding a satellite TV signal these days by manual searching is becoming quite difficult. (For example, PAS-2 now has only digital signals). Sure, if you’re a professional installer you can buy an $X000 Spectrum Analyser – but for most mere mortals they’re a tad out of reach! Satellite TV specialists Av-comm have come up with a much cheaper alternative – a Spectrum Monitor. This device connects to the satellite receiver and tells it to sweep over the band, without processing the received signals on the way. It then outputs any received signals as a video graphic which can be displayed on most video monitors via the video input. Each satellite signal found (or more correctly each transponder) is shown as a new peak on the screen. It’s a quick-n-easy way to graphiwww.siliconchip.com.au cally display received signals – say, as your dish is swept across the sky. The larger the peak in the display, the stronger the received signal. And while it is not calibrated, the peaks have some relativity to each other as far as frequency is concerned (we’ve seen this device used with frequencies written all over the glass monitor screen in marker pen!). It can also be used to set polarisation (simply by turning the LNB on the dish through 90° and checking for a peak). If you’re into satellite TV reception, always searching for new signals, the Spectralook from Av-comm could be a godsend. It is priced at $329 – dearer than a satellite signal meter but much, much more useful. Contact: Av-Comm Pty Ltd Ph: (02) 9939 4377 Fax: (02) 9939 4376 Website: www.avcomm.com.au The Ultra-Mini 4 Port bus-powered USB Hub from Targus allows any notebook or desktop computer to enjoy plug and play connection with multiple input/output USB devices. The hub is ultra lightweight and compact (95 x 42 x 20 mm) and has full overload protection on each port to prevent any danger of power shutdown, Each port glows blue when powered up. It comes with a 1m cable. The hub is suitable for both PC and Apple notebooks or USB-enabled desktops with Windows 98, 2000, Me, XP or Mac operating systems. The Ultra-Mini 4 Port USB Hub has a recommended retail price of $49.95 and is available throughout Australia wherever quality computer accessories are sold. Contact: Targus Australia Ph: (02) 9807 1222 Website: www.targus.com.au SC August 2002  81