ARTICLES

BUILD AN ELECTRONIC COMPASS - Anthony J. Caristi
This solid-state circuit contains no moving parts. The electronic compass described here is easy to build and will easily outperform the old-fashioned magnetic types.

A MAGNETIC FIELD MAPPING DEVICE - Robert Davis
Did you know that you can sense the strength and direction of magnetic fields? We already use them for navigation, but could it be possible to also use them to predict earthquakes?

DIGITAL dB USING THE BASIC STAMP II: A LOOKUP TABLE APPROACH - Allen Rushing Ph.D.
The problem with displaying wide-ranging signals is that the smallest values are hardly visible above zero, while the largest values may be saturated. This project’s objective is to logarithmically transform an input DC signal, with an input range of a few millivolts to a few volts.

SMD SHORTWAVE RECEIVER - Homer L. Davidson
You can listen to the world with this tiny receiver. It may be small, but it can pull in a large number of foreign broadcast stations.

TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT AND CONTROL - Ron Tipton
 For most people, the comfort zone is a fairly narrow climate range around  “room temperature.” Even electronic equipment is demanding regarding temperature. This article takes a look at some of the devices we use to measure and control temperature.

LED CHASER/SEQUENCER CIRCUITS - Ray Marston
 The so-called chaser or sequencer is one of the most popular types of  LED-driving circuits. Presented here is a dynamic selection of the popular practical 4017B-based circuits.

RESCUE BEACON SYSTEM TO THE TEST  ELTs, PLBs, EPIRBs ... - Gordon West
 Learn how “beacon” search and rescue missions work, and how they have improved by using the latest in technology.

COLUMNS

ELECTRONICS Q & A - TJ Byers

OPEN CHANNEL - Joe Carr
Dummy Loads and the USB Port. Find out what exactly a dummy load is and why you use one, plus a quickie review on Jan Axelson’s new book on the USB port.

STAMP APPLICATIONS - Jon Williams
Calling All Stamps: Using modems and the BASIC Stamp for data collection and control. Check out the demonstration project using a simple remote recording thermometer.

THE COMPUTER-CONTROLLED WORLD - Ryan Sheldon
Big Byte Bugs. Discover seven new devices that offer even more capabilities. And, since some of them are E3C-compliant, it will be possible to chain servo controllers, A/D converters, vacuum florescent displays, relay controllers, and digital I/O chips all on a single serial port.