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Hackar2 PDF
Hackar2 PDF
Don Lancaster’s
Hardware Hacker
Selected reprints — volume III
Radio-Electronics series (January 1990 - December 1991)
i
Hardware Hacker III
ii
Hardware Hacker III
Introduction
Welcome to the third volume in our ongoing series of my Hardware Hacker
reprints from Radio Electronics magazine. Who have recently renamed themselves
Electronics Now. This volume includes the January 1990 through December 1991
columns.
As before, I do use the term "hacker" in its original context, namely anyone who is
genuinely interested in pushing all the limits of software and hardware and is
willing to do so in a fully cooperative, low cost and sharing network environment.
I’ve tried to expand the topics beyond the strict boundaries of traditional
electronics. Going into the science and math subjects many of you have asked for
over our voice helpline. And even looking at controversial pseudoscience and "free
energy" topics.
My goal in flirting with the "not even wrong" pseudoscience and perpetual motion
stuff is to pile it up on center stage and shine a bright light on it. To get you to
conclude that "Yup, that sure is a big pile all right." Very little of this can withstand
critical inquiry.
Some of the more popular subjects in this volume include fractals, chaos science,
alternate energy, electronic levels, magnetic refrigeration, vortex coolers, video
compression, wavelets, caller id, data curve fitting, and GPS navigation. Plus
dozens more.
Preprints and reprints of most of my columns are also available electronically via
GEnie1 PSRT , presented in Hacker Data Format . For GEnie access, have your
modem dial (800) 638-8369. Just as soon as you verify your software connect, enter
an HHH . After the prompt, enter JOINGENIE . When you are asked for your
keycode, enter DMD524.
I continue to offer my no-charge voice helpline at (602) 428-4073 , and offer free
referrals from our Synergetics Consultant’s Network. I’ve also got a free and newly
expanded Hardware Hacker Inside Secrets and catalog waiting for you when you
call or write. You can also grab this as SYNCAT1.PS off GEnie PSRT , or else
request one through my Internet address of SYNERGETICS@GENIE.GEIS.COM.
iii
Hardware Hacker III
Microcomputer pioneer and guru Don Lancaster is the author of 28 books, 2 videos,
and countless articles. These include his TTL Cookbook and CMOS Cookbook
internationally published million seller classics. Don is considered by some to be
the father of the personal computer, for his early ground-breaking work with hacker
digital electronics and low cost video terminal displays. He is considered by others
to be the patron saint of the Walter Mitties of the World. And by yet others as the…
Uh, I guess we better skip that one.
Don is the Hardware Hacker in Electronics Now (516) 293-3000, runs his Resource
Bin in Nuts & Volts (714) 371-8497, and is the Blatant Opportunist in Midnight
Engineering (719) 254-4558 . Don is also the sysop for GEnie PSRT , a leading
Hardware hacking, PostScript, laser publishing, and money machine on-line
resource. His Ask the Guru columns continue to be published electronically on
PSRT. For fast GEnie modem access, dial (800) 638-8369. Then HHH followed by
JOINGENIE and DMD524.
Don is also the head honcho of Synergetics, a new-age design and consulting firm
that specializes in computer applications, laser printing, PostScript development
work, electronic prototypes, Book-on-demand publishing, technical writing, and
innovative software design. His avocations include firefighting, cave exploration,
bicycling, and, of course, tinaja questing.
Don maintains a no-charge voice helpline at (602) 428-4073. He does welcome your
calls and letters. The best calling times are 8-5 weekdays, Mountain Standard Time.
Referrals to Don’s Synergetics Consultant’s Network are available through this
same number. ✦
iv
Hardware Hacker III
Table of Contents
more . . .
v
Hardware Hacker III
vi
Don Lancaster’s PostScript fractal fern
parts. So, let’s just jump right on in… Cold fusion in metals
J. Kondo, Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, June 89, Vol 58 #56, pp 1869-1870.
Cold Fusion Kits Deuterium nuclear fusion in metals at room temperature
P. Tomas, Fizika (Yugoslavie), vol 21 #2, 1989, pp 209-214.
There seems to be lots of good news
Exact upper bound on barrier penetration probabilities for cold fusion
on the cold fusion front these days. At a A. Lettitt, Physics Review Letters, (USA), Vol 63 #2, 10 July 89, pp 191-194.
recent conference, several more inde- Cold fusion: how close can deuterium atoms come inside palladium?
pendent researchers now confirmed Z. Sun. Physics Review Letters (USA), Vol 63 #1, 3 July 89, pp 59-61
those excess heat production effects, Search for fusion reactions between deuterium atoms inplanted into titanium
R. Behrisch, Nuclear Fusion (Australia), Vol 29 #7, July 89, pp 1187-1190.
verified expected nuclear byproducts,
Can solid-state effects enhance the cold-fusion rate?
and offered lots of similar supporting A. Leggett, Nature, (UK), Vol 340 #6228, 6 July 89, pp 45-46.
observations. Upper limits on neutron and gamma ray emission from cold fusion
See the October 27th, 1989 Science on M Gai, Nature (UK), Vol 340 #6228 6 July 89, pp 29-34.
page 449 for a good summary. The key Calculated fusion rates in isotopic hydrogen molecules
sentence: "The experimental evidence S. Koonin, Nature (UK), Vol 339 #6227, 29 June 89, pp 690-691.
for a cold fusion, or at least some un- Search for neutrons during heavy water electrolysis on palladium electrodes
S. Blagus, Physics of the atomic neculi (Germany), Vol 333 #3, 1989, pp 321-322.
known nuclear phenomenon, is too
Screening corrections in cold deuterium fusion rates
great to ignore." K. Langanke, Physics of the atomic neculi (Germany), Vol 333 #3, 1989, pp 317-318.
At the same time, many of those Cold fusion in the solid state?
earlier measurements and experiments J. Goedkoop, Eneergiespectrum (Netherlands), Vol 13 #6, June 89, pp 156-162.
have been made far more precise, and Nuclear fusion
P. Bullo, Elettrificazione (Italy), #5, May 89, pp 57-61.
many possible error sources seem to
Theoretical considerations on the cold nuclear fusion in condensed matter
have gotten eliminated. In particular, F. Parmigiani, Nuovo Cimento D (Italy), Vol 11D ser. 1 #6, June 89, pp 913-919.
tighter control experiments involving Chemical forces associated with deuterium confinement in palladium
non-deuterium and non-reacting cells J. Mintmire, Physics Letters A (Netherlands), Vol 138 #1-2, 12 June 89, pp 51-54.
have been carried out to the satisfaction Cold fusion in condensed matter: is a theoretical description possible?
of several prominent skeptics. W. Schommers, Modern Physics Letters B (Singapore), Vol 3 #8, 20 May 89, pp 597-604.
The general feeling seems to be that Doubts grow as many attempts at cold fusion fail
B. Levi, Physics Today (USA), Vol 42 #6, June 89, pp 17-19.
something really is happening here.
Muon catalyzed fusion
And the most reasonable explanation C. Petitjean, Fusion Engineering Design (Netherlands), Vol 11 #1-2, June 89, pp 255-264.
for that something is that cold fusion is Computation of the cold fusion rate
actually taking place, or else some P. Dong, New Physics (South Korea), Vol 29 #2, April 89, pp 233-234.
previously unknown nuclear reaction The observation of 2.2 MeV gamma-ray in electrochemical cell
Y. Park, New Physics (South Korea), Vol 29 #2, April 89, pp 231-232.
seems to be occuring.
First steps toward an understanding of "cold" nuclear fusion
On the other hand, that excessive T. Bressani, Nuovo Cimento A (Italy), Vol 101A ser. 2 #5, May 89, pp 845-849.
energy production is still very erratic, Emission of neutrons as a consequence of titanium-deuterium interaction
rather low, and highly unpredictable. A. De Ninno, Nuovo Cimento A (Italy), Vol 101A ser. 2 #5, May 89, pp 841-844.
Tremendous quantities of time and Fermi gas like hypothesis for Freischmann-Pons experiment
effort are usually required under ex- O. Rossler, Z. Nat. Phys. Chem. Kosmophys (W Germany), Vol 44A #4, April 89, pp 329.
tremely careful conditions to get any Observation of cold nuclear fusion in condensed matter
S. Jones, Nature (UK), Vol 338 #6218, 27 April 89, pp 737-740.
observable results at all.
Electrochemically induced nuclear fusion of deuterium
There’s been two major cold fusion M. Fleischmann, Jour. Electroan. Chem. (Switzerland), Vol 261 #2A, 10 April 89, pp 301.
developments this month that should be Cold nuclear fusion
of major hardware hacking interest. The A. Rusu, Energetica (Romania), Vol 3 #6, June 88, pp 258-261.
first is that all of the key fusion papers On the practical use of the cold fusion (problems and prospects)
Y. Petrov, Muon Catalyzed Fusion (Switzerland), Vol 3 #1-4, 1988, pp 525-535.
are now readily obtainable. And the
second is that you can now get your own
low cost ($27) experimental cold fusion Fig. 1 – SOME KEY COLD FUSION PAPERS. For a complete and up to date list,
demonstration kit. use the Diaglog Information Service at your local library. Start with their INSPEC
By the time you read this, over a resource data base. Fleischmann’s paper started it all.
26.1
Hardware Hacker
ten or so. Thus, your estimated odds are
only one in one hundred that you will be
able to prove your cell actually works.
So, what we have here appears to be
a crap shoot.
On the other hand, here you do have a
sure fire winner for a science fair entry,
show-and-tell, or school report. And the
"touchy-feely" and "See what I’ve got!"
aspects of all these kits are completely
off scale.
Golly gee, Mr. Science.
10 mil 20 mil x 0.8 inch 0.1 molar Guy also offers fancier cold fusion
nickel wire palladium rod deuterium oxide + kits and similar products for serious
anode cathode lithium hydroxide researchers. Contact him directly for
more information.
Fig. 2 – LOW COST HACKER FUSION KITS consist of a small test tube filled with Needless to say, be sure and let us
heavy water, a short palladium rod cathode, and a nickel wire cathode. While the know the outcome of all ongoing test
odds of positive results are rather low, this is a great show-and-tell item. experiments. This is a wide open field
with mind-boggling hacker potential.
and should take twenty minutes. nickel wire. Nickel is used instead of UPDATE: As of fall 1992, cold fusion
As a reminder, the best sources for platinum for the anode. has largely failed to prove itself. No
current info on cold fusion are in the A classic cold fusion cell is built up solid atomic evidence has ever been
News and Comments section found in something like figure three. Use a coiled demonstrated, and the phenonomen has
Science magazine, and the Technology nickel wire anode, and a nickel sus- pretty much been downgraded to a lab
section that is usually found on page B-4 pended palladium rod cathode. You curiosity. But dedicated researchers do
of your Wall Street Journal. apply a test DC current in the 4 to 20 continue their work.
On to those kits. Guy Wicker is a milliampere range, with positive to the
name-brand hardware hacker and a nickel anode and negative to your pa- Midnight Engineering
well-known energy researcher. By a lladium cathode. There’s a brand new magazine out
special arrangement, Guy has offered to Be sure to carefully monitor your known as Midnight Engineering. It is
put together a few new cold fusion temperatures at several locations. If specifically aimed at you hardware
mini-kits for all you Radio-Electronics possible, also monitor for radiation. A hackers and software developers who
hackers. The kits cost only $25, plus $2 "charging" time of several hours or a are trying to market their high tech
shipping and handling. few days seems normal for this size products on a small-scale or startup
As figure two shows you, this kit palladium rod. Look for both a very low basis. Its shoot-from-the-hip style is
consists of a small test tube full of a 0.1 level and a separate "burst mode" ex- very much cast in the same mold as my
molar deuterium and lithium hydr- cessive heat production effects. Incredible Secret Money Machine. Em-
oxide solution, a short piece of 50 mil Some sort of a continuous temper- phasis is on real-world solutions and
palladium rod, and a small loop of ature recorder, possibly based on a new hacker opportunities.
personal computer, is probably a very Free sample copies are available to
good idea. You’ll want to work inside of you. This one is a "must have."
(–) (+) a styrofoam block which sits inside a
picnic cooler or other insulated box. Printed Circuit Update
Guy reports that very small cells like There sure were a lot of helpline calls
this one are far more likely to produce a and letters over our PostScript direct
low level tritium radiation than excess toner printed circuit lab prototype
heat production. Getting both to happen breakthrough in the December issue. I
at once when someone is watching is thought I would summarize some of
usually frustratingly difficult. It is also your hacker suggestions to date. These
the Holy Grail of cold fusion. appear in figure four.
Some warnings here. Your cell is Many of you totally and completely
extremely small and the excess heat underestimated just how crucially im-
production, if any, is likely to end up portant the PostScript language is to this
correspondingly tiny. Opportunities of breakthrough process. Among its many
cell contamination are very great. Your other advantages, PostScript lets you
Fig. 3 – A TYPICAL COLD FUSION odds of your cold fusion cell working at exactly trim your final image size to
test setup. Apply a dc current aound 10 all are only something like one in ten, precisely 1:1 . PostScript is output
mils. The anode and cathode should and those odds of your being able to independent, meaning you could use
not contact. You measure for excess observe that operation when and as it either a desktop laser printer or a more
temperature, neutrons, and tritium. occurs is also estimated as around one in precise phototypesetter; easily lets you
26.2
February, 1990
work at 1X , 2X , 4X , frontwards or Jensen Tools and TechniTool. Sadly,
backwards, normal or reversed, to as Alarm and Security Resources both of these yuppieized outfits are
many as eight layers at once; has no To continue our ongoing series of rather pricey. But all of their products
upper size or any complexity limit. It is resource sidebars, this month we’ll look are both first rate and top quality.
also totally host independent, which at what you’ll need to know to pick up There are now hundreds of security
allows you to use any old word pro- insider information on burgular alarms consultants that will be glad to help you
cessor on any old personal computer; and security systems. The magic names for a sane and reasonable fee. Two
simply lets you pass layouts over any and numbers appear in that Alarm and examples here are Wyatt Palmer (no
BBS system in the world as a plain old Security Resources color sidebar. relation) of Valley Security, and Jeff
textfile; and is compatible with virtually As with any field at all, your best bet Lancaster (my widdle brudder) of his
all of the existing CAD/CAM programs, is to start with the trade journals. A Cain Security Systems.
either through a direct PostScript driver complete listing of all trade journals is Please let me know if you know of
or by a PostScript HPGL emulator. available as the Uhlrichts Periodicals any other resources you think should be
Similarly, using the heated roller Dictionary on the reference shelf at added to this list.
method works far better than an iron. your neighborhood library. A second
The obvious reasons for this are the far source that appears almost as good is Dew Sensors
more uniform pressure and temper- that International Standard Periodicals We’ve looked at humidity sensors in
ature. You also can gain bunches in Dictionary on the same shelf. several earlier columns. One unique and
dimensional stability, since the mylar Typical trade journals for this field low cost humidity detector is called a
transfer sheet does not get any chance to include Security Dealer, the Security dew sensor. These cost only a dollar
distort all at once. As we’ve seen I do Distributing and Marketing, and the each and are intended to protect
recommend a fake Kroy Kolor ma- Alarm Installer and Dealer. moisture-sensitive VCR drums.
chine to do the transfer. We’ll look at Trade shows play an important part in Three typical part numbers would be
some cheaper alternatives for this in a the alarm industry. A pair of the largest the Murata HOS 101-100 , the Taiyo
future issue. are the International Security Confer- Yuden TD-P-100 , or that Panasonic
Several readers have now suggested ence & Exposition, and The Security EYH-S0210.
substituting Kapton film instead of the Show. These do move around from town Unlike hygrometer sensors, these
polyester overhead sheets since it has to town. Check any of the trade journals devices should have a fairly low and
better high temp stability. Two of the for show dates. uniform dc resistance whenever no
sources for Kapton include DuPont and There are a number of specialty moisture condensation takes place. A
Rogers Corp. wholesale distributors that cater to the typical dry resistance value is 10K.
It also seems a very good idea to do alarm trade. You’ll find lots of ads for At a 100 percent humidity, the air
your final cleaning wash of your bare these in all the trade journals and their retains all of the moisture it possibly
copper board with distilled water. A directories. Three larger examples are can. Beyond this, the moisture in the air
brief pre-etch before transferring your King Alarm, Arius, and Ademco. will condense out, forming rain or a dew
toner image does appear to be quite Two sources of general installation coating.
important as well. The etch will both tools and test instruments do include A special moisture sensing paint
guarantee an extra clean board and
gives you just the right "tooth" for the
toner to grab onto. 1. The PostScript language is essential to the direct toner process. Its totally
Some other suggestions: preheat the overwhelming advantages include precise scaling to 1:1, total format flexibility,
copper board as much as you can before host and printer independence, easy BBS downloads, and the ability to use
nothing but a word processor.
doing the transfer. The idea is to keep
the copper from acting as a giant heat 2. Heated roller transfer methods work much better than an iron. Use a fake Kroy
sink. Something around 150 degrees Kolor machine or its equivalent. The reasons include better stability and tighter
temperature control.
Farenheit should work. Note that gloves
are an absolute must. 3. Use a "dry" (silicon oil free) fuser wiper pad for several copies before your
And rub an ice cube on the back of transfer sheet is run.
the transfer sheet before seperating it 4. For extreme dimensional stability, try using a Kapton film, rather than polyester
from the pc board. This seems to or mylar.
improve the transfer process bunches. 5. Do your final washing of your cleaned copper board with distilled water.
Be sure and send in your own tips and 6. A brief etch before your final washing step is essential to give the proper "tooth"
techniques for geting perfect 1:1 toner for toner transfer.
transfers. When all of the dust settles,
7. Preheat the copper to 150 degrees or so before the transfer to minimize any
we’ll try to separate the black magic heat sinking effects.
from the reality and standardize on a
useful direct toner process. 8. Rub an ice cube over the back of the transfer sheet before seperating it from
the pc board.
UPDATE: Vastly improved direct
toner products appeared in fall of 1992.
Especially from DynaArt Designs and Fig. 4 – HERE’S AN UPDATE on the direct toner printed circuit prototypes we first
Technics Inc.. looked at in the December 89 issue.
26.3
Hardware Hacker
dozen or so entries, with an all expense
paid (FOB Thatcher, AZ) tinaja quest
ALARM & SECURITY RESOURCES for two for the best of all.
As usual, all entries must be written
Ademco Cain Security Systems Security Dealer
165 Eileen Way 2593 Wexbayne Rd, S301 210 Crossways Park Drive
and should be sent directly to me here at
Syosset, NY 11791 Sewickley, PA 15143 Woodbury, NY 11797 Synergetics, rather than on over to
(800) 645-7492 (412) 934-1000 (516) 496-8000 Radio-Electronics editorial. Show me
Alarm Installer & Dealer Jensen Tools Security Distributing what you can come up with on this.
2512 Artesia Boulevard 7815 South 46th Street 1350 E Touhy Avenue
Redondo Beach, CA 90278 Phoenix, AZ 85044 Des Plaines, IL 60017 New Tech Literature
(213) 376-8788 (602) 968-6231 (312) 390-2117 Data books this month include the
ARIUS King Alarm Valley Security Data Conversion Products Databook
959 Concord Street 145 English Street PO Drawer J from Analog Devices, and an abso-
Framingham, MA 01701 Hackensack, NJ 07601 Thatcher, AZ 85552
(800) 241-3278 (800) 526-0162 (602) 428-2142 lutely astounding new Semiconductor
Product Guide from Samsung. This
latter gem is chock full of new hacker
dramatically raises its resistance well That inverting CMOS Schmidt trig- integrated circuits for use as scientific
beyond 1 Megohm whenever it gets wet. ger gives you an on-off snap action. calculators, speech synthesis, melody
Thus, your sensor is typically at 10K Your red light emitting diode lights chips, cassette recorders, watches, for
when dry and 1 Meg when wet. A good when wet and the green when dry. alarm clocks, and bunches more.
decision point is to split up the dif- You do have to be fairly careful with Two surplus catalogs are available
ference on a log basis, and do your these. Fingerprints, solvents, or even from R&D Electronics and Lehman
tripping at a 100K level. ions from your city water can damage Scientific. R&D is heavy into low cost
Figure five shows you one possible the sensor, as can organic chemicals stepper motor bargains, while Lehman
sensing circuit. Because you have to from certain mounting adhesives. has weather radiosonde transducers that
keep the total system power under two Solder flux and flux removers are also a include humidity, pressure, and temp-
milliwatts, the maximum dc voltage you no-no. erature sensing for only $3.50. The stock
are allowed to apply is only 0.8 volts. Once again, your highest permitted number is MC-1019-MOD.
The sensor acts as a current robber. At applied voltage is only 0.8. Any self- Some surprisingly cheap and high
low humidities, the sensor’s resistance heating is not allowed. quality digital voice recording and
is around 10K and steals so much There are a number of other dew playback modules are available from
current, that the NPN transistor remains sensors. Some of these work only under Ming Engineering. The single quantity
off. When wet, the sensor impedance ac drive, and others may have different prices start at $49. These are all fully
goes above a megohm, and impedance levels. Be sure to have the EPROM programmable. They seem to
conventional current flows into the base data sheet for your actual device on use that new Toshiba TC8830F speech
of the NPN transistor, turning it on and hand if you try to use any of these synthesis chip.
dropping its output voltage. alternates. Car Audio is an interesting slick
The base-emitter junction of the Tellyawhat. For this month’s con- magazine for high power mobile music
transistor guarantees that the sensor test, just tell me about a new or unique buffs.
voltage should never exceed 0.6 volts. use for dew sensors. There will be all of American Design Components has a
This is an example of a current steering those usual Incredible Secret Money new surplus catalog that includes $14
mode of operation. Machine book prizes going to the best ultrasonic radars and $15 gyroscopes,
among scads of other goodies. And
Chips and Technologies has a new
82C235 single-chip AT motherboard
+5vdc out, along with a free data book.
Turning to mechanical stuff, low cost
1K
nylon bearings and a free calculator are
100K aviailable from Thompson Nyliner,
750K
74HC14 Green = low while the IGUS folks offer all sorts of
humidity self-lubricating plastic bearings. The
prices start at fifteen cents in quantity.
1K A reminder here that I am book-
Panasonic
EYH-S0210 MPS6521 on-demand publishing a complete set of
Red = dew
dew sensor or moisture
the edited, indexed, and updated
reprints of everything you’ve seen here
in these columns since day one. Ask for
my Hardware Hacker, volume II, now
available through Synergetics.
Fig. 5 – A DEW SENSOR TEST CIRCUIT. The red LED lights when the humidity I also have an Intro to PostScript
exceeds 100 percent; the green one turns on in the absence of dew. VHS video. Let’s hear from you.✦
26.4
February, 1990
26.5
January, 1990
25.7
Don Lancaster’s LVDT position detectors
T
his month, I figured we’d quarter of a CMOS 4066 is often an doubly balanced modulator, a phase-
look at a rather mis-named ideal choice for this sort of thing. sensitive detector, I-Q demodulator,
integrated circuit that has an As we will shortly see, there are synchronous rectifier, a phase-locker,
unbelievable future hacker zillions of uses for this circuit. One or, going back to some really ancient
potential. But first, as usual, let’s pick obvious place is as a video inverter, history, as a homodyne detector.
up some background… used to create negative video images Figure one can also be used as a
for special needs. To create a video modern and handy sync demod circuit.
A Programmable inverter, you take this circuit and add a What is especially nice is that this is a
Analog Inverter sync separator, such as the National single-ended circuit which needs no
Figure one shows you my favorite LM1881 , and set things up to invert transformers of any kind.
"sleeper" circuit found in my CMOS only your video portions but not the In general, any sync demod is an
Cookbook. This is a single-ended and sync portions. Naturally, a video- electronic multiplier that extracts the
simple op-amp circuit that gives you a quality op-amp would be needed for sum and the difference between your
choice of a +1 or -1 gain under manual this use. Additional bias current can be input frequency signal and your ref-
or electronic control. switched in as needed to get the correct erence switching frequency.
You can analyze most any op-amp signal levels. For instance, figure two shows you
circuit by treating the (-) and (+) input But, we’ll save that for some other what happens if we keep the input and
sources separately. By a fundamental time, because what I really want to get switching frequencies identical, but
electronic law known as superposition, into here are the secrets behind… shift their phases. Let’s first assume a
you can get a combined final result. zero phase difference between signal
Assume that we have a fairly low Synchronous Demodulation and reference.
impedance input source which also The switch in figure one could be The amplifier’s gain will be (+1) for
provides a resistive path to ground. turned off and on at very slow rates the positive signal peaks, and (-1) for
Suppose we close the switch. The (+) compared to your input signal fre- the negative signal peaks, giving us a
input sees only the resistor to ground. quency. Or at equal rates. Or even at plain old full wave rectifier. The "dc
The (-) input acts as an amplifier with a much higher rates. Now, if you turn term" here will be a direct current level
gain of -1, since the input resistor and the switch on and off at precisely the equal to the strength or amplitude of
the feedback one are identical. same speed as your input signal, you the input signal. The "lumps" will be a
As with any op-amp, the (-) input create a beastie known as a synch- double-frequency and higher "ac term"
can be treated as a virtual ground, ronous demodulator. that is usually filtered out.
since any deviation from the grounded Syncronous demodulators form a Thus, the zero phased synchronous
(-) input will cause an output change super-important electronic concept demodulation should extract only the
that reaches back around through the used just about everywhere. A sync amplitude of an input signal.
feedback resistor to continually seek a demod’s name can change all over the Suppose we next shift the phase by
zero difference between the (+) and (-) place, being otherwise known as an 180 degrees. This time, your gain is
op-amp inputs. autocorrellator, a lock-in amplifier, a (-1) for the positive lumps and (+1) for
What if we open the switch? Well,
we still have one input signal along the
top that still has a gain of -1. But now
there’s a new input signal path along
the bottom, which has a gain of +2 . 10K
Because of the feedback action, the (-)
input of a properly connected op- amp 10K
will be a virtual ground "short circuit", –
Input 5K 5K Output
while the (+) input will be a high im- +
pedance "open circuit". op-amp
Hmmm. The gain along the top is
(-1). The gain along the bottom is +2. manual or CMOS
electronic switch
And, the last time I checked, (-1) + (+2)
= +1. So, close that switch and you’ll
get a gain of -1. Open the switch and
you get a gain of +1 . Presto. A pro-
grammable linear inverter. Fig. 1 – A PROGRAMMABLE GAIN AMPLIFIER. When the switch is closed, the
Your switch can be a manual one, or gain is -1. When the switch is opened, the gain is +1. One important circuit use is
else a higher speed electronic one. A for full wave synchronous demodulation.
27.1
Hardware Hacker
complex signal at the same time.
Let’s look at some additional uses
When the reference and the signal for synchronous demodulation. If you
INPUT are in phase (0 degrees), a strong hard limit the input signal to your sync
dc term is produced proportional to demod so it is a clean square wave,
the strength of the input signal.
REFERENCE then you will provide phase detection.
The second harmonic and higher
ac frequencies are usually strongly
Go through the math, and you will find
OUTPUT filtered out, leaving only a dc term. that your output voltage is a triangle
which linearly equals the phase angle
between the input and the reference.
You can then use your sync demod to
INPUT When the reference and the signal measure the phase angle between two
are in quadrature (90 degrees), a input signals.
zero dc term is produced, totally
REFERENCE rejecting the input signal.
Suppose we would synchronously
demodulate one signal and at the same
Values very near a quadrature or
90 degree phase are often used time apply an interfering signal of a
OUTPUT
for phase measurements or for FM different frequency. Your "wanted"
demodulation. signal will always be in phase and will
always produce a dc output equal to its
INPUT
When the reference and the signal amplitude. The "unwanted" signal will
are out of phase by 180 degrees, a create a sinewave as it "slips cycles"
negative dc term is produced that
is proportional to the input signal. with respect to the wanted one. Any
REFERENCE sinewave averages to zero over a long
Note that the circuit of figure one is
180 degree phased, unless you enough time. We apparently have a
OUTPUT purposely invert the reference way of detecting one signal while we
input signal. reject an interfering one.
Certain types of sync demods are
When the reference and the signal
called lock-in amplifiers. These can
INPUT are at -90 or +270 degrees, a zero dc form an extremely narrow bandpass
term is produced, once again totally filter that automatically centers on the
rejecting the input signal.
REFERENCE frequency of interest, and can yield
Because of quadrature rejection, tremendous improvements in signal to
twice as much information can be put
OUTPUT onto a synchronously demodulated
noise ratios.
carrier. As an example, it is not unknown
for your lock-in amplifier to cleanly
extract a signal that is buried in noise
Fig. 2 – SYNCHRONOUS DEMODULATOR WAVEFORMS. At 0 degrees that can be as much as 120 decibels
reference phasing, the "dc" portion of the output is proportional to the input stronger than the signal you want. Im-
amplitude, and interfering signals are strongly rejected. At 90 degrees, the "dc" portant uses here include extracting
portion is zero, and the input signal itself gets strongly rejected. data from deep space probes, and
performing laboratory and medical
the negative lumps of the signal. We double the information placed on a instrumentation that measures very
get a negative output, and we could carrier, simply by having an in-phase weak signals in the presence of much
conclude that any 180 degree phased term and a 90 degree, or quadrature larger interfering noise and ac hum.
synchronous demodulation extracts term? We sure can, and it gets done all A not-quite synchronous demodu-
only the negative of the amplitude of the time. lation will output a sinewave equal to
the input signal. For instance, the color information the difference between the reference
Now, let’s get interesting. Suppose on an NTSC (Never The Same Color) and input frequencies. This is a simple
we shift the phase to 90 degrees. What television is placed onto a magic sub- example of a downconverting, or mix-
happens? Well, nothing at all. During carrier of 3.57545 Megahertz. The hue ing of one signal against another to get
the time the switch is closed, we have of the color is the phase angle, while a frequency difference.
half of a positive cycle and half of a the saturation of the color sets your By using a pair of sync demods, you
negative cycle, so our net (or average) amplitude. At the receiver, a phase- can not only extract the frequency dif-
dc output is zero. Very handily, any lock loop does an in-phase "I" and a ference, but also determine which of
synchronous demodulation at a 90 quadrature "Q" demodulation. After the frequencies are higher.
degree phasing produces a zero out- further processing, all the separate The doppler signal extraction in a
put. And, since nothing upside down is amplitudes are extracted for the red, side-looking radar is one major use.
still nothing, a similar cancellation blue, and green guns in the display Separately, synchronously demodu-
happens at -90 or +270 degrees. tube. Thus, we have used a pair of lating a shaft encoder can give you
But wait a minute. If we get zero synchronous demodulators to extract both speed and direction information.
output at a 90 degree phase, can’t we both the amplitude and phase of a Flangers for electronic music synth-
27.2
March, 1990
isizers use a similar principle.
For a really strange use of a sync
demod, high power rectifiers always
have a forward drop associated with 0
them of a volt or more that can cause
( – ) output voltage ( + )
all sorts of inefficiencies, especially
secondaries
with low voltage solar panel power
secondaries
primary
primary
conversions. But power transistors can
0
have significantly lower forward drops
if they are properly overdriven as a
switch. To improve the efficiency of a
solar power conversion system, you
create a syncrhonous rectifier that uses ( – ) core position ( + )
a sync demod and a pair of power
transistors to replace your inefficient
power diodes normally used.
Finally, one early way of detecting (A) SCHEMATIC (B) CROSS SECTION (C) RESPONSE
an am radio station was known as a
homodyne detection. Here you would
synchronously demodulate your in- Fig. 3 – LINEAR VARIABLE DIFFERENTIAL TRANSFORMERS, short for
coming signal against a reference of LVDT’s, can be used for extremely precise position-to-voltage transducers. The
the same frequency as the transmitter output voltage follows the core position. Microweighing is one use.
carrier and then directly extract your
audio in a single step. Unfortunately, linear sinewave output voltage whose balance, shove, or otherwise con-
these howled a lot as they were tuned amplitude changes with position, and tinually coerce the LVDT back to its
and tended towards instability, so they whose phase is (0) degrees for pos- null position. This is known as null
were flushed in the late 1920’s in favor itions above center and (180) degrees seeking, and, because of the feedback,
of superhetrodyne circuits that used for positions below center. many non-linearities can be greatly
intermediate frequency amplification, In short, a LVDT is a very precise reduced if not cancelled outright.
often at 455 Kilohertz. Today, the old and ultra-sensitive position to voltage While LVDT ’s are usually super-
homodyne deserves a fresh new look, transducer. Some LVDT devices can precise, there’s no reason you can’t
especially when combined with digital easily sense any motions or position throw one together on your own to
synthesis, and the ability to put highly changes as small as a thousandth of an create a low cost position sensor. Be
stable audio gain and good filtering inch or less. They can also be made sure to let me know what you do come
into very small packages. large enough to measure distances of up with on this.
So, sync demods are easy to build several feet or more. By another of those astounding
and can be amazingly versatile. But, Unfortunately for hackers, LVDT’s coincidences that infest this column, it
before we explore a great sync demod are rather pricey, since they are both looks like we need a sync demod to
chip and more real-world uses, let’s low-volume and precision compon- extract the position info from a LVDT.
briefly look at some little-used hacker ents. One useful surplus source is But, if we have a simple and cheap
components known as… AST Servo, while others advertise in circuit that does this, why limit it to
the Sensors and Measurement and LVDT uses, when so much more can
LVDT’s Control trade journals. be done so much better with it?
An LVDT, or a Linear Voltage Dif- Several LVDT uses? Weigh scales, Which brings us around to…
ferential Transformer is shown in especially for microweighing. Torque
figure three. This is a transformer sensing. Accelerometers. Distance The Misnamed Chip
which has a moveable core, a single measurement. Inclinometers. Pressure Sometimes a manufacturer might
winding on the primary, and a pair of transducers. For seismometry. Load simply put the wrong name on one
secondary windings. The secondary cells. Micropositioners. Or anywhere of their integrated circuit chips. For
windings are connected in opposition, else you want to convert a very small instance, which of these two has the
so that the output voltage will be the motion or distance change into a use- greater hacker potential – a Signetics
difference between the two. ful electrical signal. NE5520N LVDT Signal Conditioner, or
When the moveable core is in the For precision results, your LVDT a Philips NE5520N Universal Single
center, equal and opposite voltages are must get driven from a pure audio Chip Treasure Finder?
induced in the secondaries, and the sinewave of a fixed and known amp- As you might guess, Signetics is
output voltage is zero. As your core litude. Distortion could lead to bad Philips, and, of course, the NE5520N
moves up, a 0 degree phased sinewave harmonics which will in turn create is the NE5520N.
appears in your output. As it moves output errors and other difficulties. Figure four shows details. What we
down, a 180 degree phased sinewave To further up the LVDT precision, have is a precise amplitude and low
appears instead. you can use a LVDT in its servo mode. distortion audio sinewave generator, a
With careful design, you can get a Here, you’d use feedback to move, synchronous demodulator, and one
27.3
Hardware Hacker
head of an induction balance metal
locator is really a LVDT in disguise.
+9 Vdc 0.1 µF In the absence of a buried object, the
voltages induced into the output
sensing coils are equal and opposite.
feedback
A buried ore or a metal object will
14 12 8 11
0.33 µF
Vcc Vref Vref/2
distort the transmitted field, and un-
(3.3 kHz)
osc balance the output voltages.
13 9
audio audio Now for the neat part. Any "metal"
5
oscillator driver osc
10 objects return an in-phase component
5.1K 1K to the output signal, while "mineral"
out ref
2 + sync 6 deposits, such as a well rusted can,
demod
0.1µF 0.47µF -
in return us a quadrature signal. Nicely
3 4
separating the goodies from all the
NE5520
+9 Vdc 1 7 LVDT
grunge and garbage.
Thus, the NE5520N circuit can be
10K used for in-phase discrimination of
10K 47K OUTPUT (zero position = 4.5 vdc) metal objects, or for quadrature dis-
crimination of mineral objects.
To do the quadrature synchronous
Fig. 4 – THE PHILLIPS/SIGNETICS NE5520N has an internal precision demodulation, just shift the phase of
sinewave generator, a sync demod, and an extra op-amp that gets used here as your reference by 90 degrees. Add a
an output filter. This is how to apply it as an LVDT signal conditioner. Since this second NE5520N , and you can also
chip can do so much more, it does seem a shame to waste it on LVDT uses. add such advanced features as auto-
matic ground tracking and the "native"
uncommitted op-amp you can use for a sync demod? soil background cancellation effects
output filtering, meter driving, or in- One place could include modulated featured on higher priced locators.
phase to quadrature conversions. The infrared alarms and communicators Similarly, over in those receiver-
circuit shows you how to power and that can ignore both sunlight and room transmitter styles of metal locators
sense the output of a LVDT. lighting. A second might be in the often chosen for pipe finding, fiber
While you actually could use one of fluxgate magnetometer used in solid optics can be used to optically couple
these chips with a LVDT , the beast state digital compasses. from the transmitter to the receiver,
should work well for an extremely How about treasure finding? I can minimizing any field distortions an
wide variety of hacker stuff. Where think of at least a dozen uses here. actual cable might create. A sync
else could we use an audio source and Figure five shows us how the search demod at the receiver could then be
used for improved sensitivity and for
metal/mineral discrimination.
The NE5520N costs around $7 in
smaller quantities. Supply current is
around seven milliamperes, easily
secondaries
primary
27.6
Don Lancaster’s Organic Vapor Detectors
28.5
Don Lancaster’s Hall Effect Resources
O
1
30.6
Don Lancaster’s Electronic tune chips
31.6
Don Lancaster’s Huffman Codes
32.6
Don Lancaster’s Perpetual Motion
N
prisingly enormous number of all you
S
S
drop-ins I am getting on this.
S
N
N
S
I guess I was in the seventh grade
when I built my first perpetual motion
machine. Figure one shows details. I
took a gyroscope and hung several
magnets on it so that like poles faced Fig. 1 – MY VERY FIRST PERPETUAL MOTION MACHINE. As the like poles
each other. The magnets were at an of the magnets repel each other, they accelerate the rotor on a gyroscope.
angle so that repulsion would have a Sadly, it latched, rather than speeding up. But maybe if I used stronger
tangental component. As the poles magnets and better bearings…
33.1
Hardware Hacker
Several of us folks around here at
Radio-Electronics editorial have now
(1) - If you can’t find it, you ain’t lookin. somehow gotten some silly ideas into
our collective heads. For some unbe-
(2) - Research is a continuous activity done on a total lifestyle basis.
You cannot turn it on and off at will.
knownst reason, many of us presently
feel that…
(3) - Anticipate what you are going to research in the future and get
started on it long ahead of any actual or possible need. (A) Neither matter nor energy can
be created or destroyed, except by an
(4) - Your own personal resource file should be your first and foremost atomic process.
starting place. Your begining file should fill at least eight cubic
yards, and should expand from there. (B) Available energy always seems
to convert itself from higher quality
(5) - The free trade journals are far and away your most important
forms into lower and less useful ones.
external resource. A complete listing appears in Uhlricht’s
Not once have the dishes ever washed
Periodicals Dictionary. Use those bingo cards!
themselves. Nor have those pool balls
(6) - The Dialog Information Service at your local library can instantly ever re-racked by themselves.
find anything for you from anywhere at anytime.
(C) Nearly all physical and elec-
(7) - Other important library resources are the Science Citations Index, tronic processes will end up
the Thomas Registry of Manufacturers, Interlibrary loan, the UMI producing unrecoverable low grade
reprint service, and the Encyclopedia of Associations. heat energy, usually through friction
(8) - Form an extensive network of contacts outside of your circle of or electrical resistance.
family, friends, or work associates. Clubs, helplines, and BBS
(D) Despite a house-senate com-
systems are ideal for this sort of thing.
promise committee, congress is not
(9) - Let your subconscious be your guide, starting from fundamental expected to repeal the three laws of
principles and guidelines. Go with the vibes. thermodynamics this session. Para-
(10) - Quest tinajas. phrased, these three laws are (1) You
. can’t win; (2) You can’t break even;
and (3) Yes, the dice are crooked, but
Fig. 2 – SEVERAL OF MY INSIDER SECRETS on independent research. it is the only game in town.
makes a lot of sense to them, they cept. But we need not get into any of I guess one of the reasons some of
will usually ignore all the repetitive these here. us around here feel this way is that
and cyclic energy supplying stages Finally, there is the magic bullet. not once in the history of hardware
needed to get to that step. Their idea almost but not quite works. hacking has even one reproducible
There’s also the cosmic cupcake So, all we’ll need to fix it are better counterexample to these silly ideas of
syndrome, the few chips shy of a full gears, stronger magnets, a larger milk ours ever gotten successfully and un-
board affliction, and the boy a whole bottle, or a different rear axle ratio. arguably demonstrated.
flock of them flew over that time con- Or more bucks for research. Naturally, you are free to agree or
disagree with us as you wish. But if
you disagree, we do make only one
simple request: Provide us with an
N experiment that can be independently
duplicated by disinterested outsiders
which causes your effect to show up
at least reasonably well.
ICE GADOLINIUM ROD Then we will all believe.
Doing Serious Research
So, what is the best way to research
S any topic? I don’t know how many
calls and letters I have gotten from
people which live in such a "remote"
area and will claim that "absolutely
Fig. 3 – THE MAGNETOCALORIC EFFECT, very greatly oversimplified. nothing" is available locally. Believe
Gadolinium and other rare earth alloys can absorb heat energy when in the it or not, one of these letters was from
presence of a magnetic field and release it otherwise. The efficiency can be Cambridge, MA and yet another was
as much as 40:1 better than mechanical cooling. Magnetic refrigeration is from Palo Alto, CA.
usable over an absolute zero to above room temperature range. Important Well, I have been sitting right here
first uses will likely be in cyrogenics, superconductivity, liquified gases, and watching Gila Monsters on this sand
for hydrogen fuel research. dune smack dab in the middle of the
33.2
September, 1990
Upper Sonoran desert for nearly two For now, you go to the library and library, should you snoop around in
decades now. Although almost every- view the Hacker’s Holy Grail, that is enough nooks and crannies. In gen-
thing I do is local (and much of it is otherwise known as the Uhlricht’s eral, the least valuable things in any
done underground or in mountaintop Periodicals Dictionary. This single library are its takeout books. There’s
wilderness areas), I have had zero hardware hacking resource is far and that free Interlibrary Loan Service
problems whatsoever in handling top away more important than all of the which lets you pick up anything from
quality research on all kinds of very rest put together. Use and enjoy. anywhere, and the faster UMI service
rewarding and well-paying topics. The second most important outside which could get you any reprint of
So do not give me any "remote" Hardware Hacking research resource anything provided you know the
bull. Admittedly, my tiny and isolated is the Dialog Information Service. It’s exact title, journal, and pages. For
town of 2400 now does have its very also at your local library. For a small much less than Dialog, so long as you
own symphony orchestra. But that is fee, Dialog will instantly research don’t mind waiting a few days.
another story. anything, anywhere, anytime. As an There’s also a Thomas Registry of
Figure two lists a few of my key example, we’ll shortly be looking at Manufacturers that lists who makes
secrets to doing independent hacker magnetic refrigeration. To get from everything, but I’ve found this to be
research. The overwhelming reason knowing virtually nothing on this of limited utility. Also, check into the
you cannot find something is because topic to having eighteen of the most Encyclopedia of Associations, and, if
you are not looking. You are instead recent worldwide key abstracts in you can’t locate Uhlricht’s, then the
going through several inept motions hand took me seven minutes and cost International Standard Periodicals
and keeping yourself busy, instead of me a total of $27.57. Dictionary is almost as good.
taking obvious steps and handling all There’s lots of other goodies in the Another library favorite of mine is
of them in a logical manner.
Research is not an activity that you
turn on or off. Instead, you put your- Magnetocaloric Effect in Strong Magnetic Fields
self in a continuous research mode in A.M. Tishin, Cyrogenics (UK), February 1990, v30 #2, pp 127-136.
which you gather and collect every- Magnetocaloric Effects in Rare Earth Magnetic Materials
thing, needed or not, or expected or A.S. Andreenko, et. al., Soviet Physics (USA), August 1989, v32 #8, pp 649-664.
not. Never mind which topic. Your Magnetocaloric Effect in Thulium
subject does not matter in the least, C.B. Zimm, et. al., Cyrogenics (UK), September 1989, v29 #9, pp 937-938.
because chance favors the prepared Magnetic Refrigeration
mind. Thus, your very own personal Superconductivity Industries, Spring 1989, v2 #1, pp 32-41.
resource file is far and away the most Magnetocaloric Effect and Refrigerant Capacity of Tb-Dy Alloys
S.A. Nitkin, et.al, Physics Status Solidi (East Germany), May 1989, pp 117-121.
important place to look, should any
specific need come up. Magnetic Refrigerator for Superconducting Magnets at 1.8K
V.A. Altov, et.al., ICEC 12 (UK), 1988, pp 635-640.
Set a minimum goal of eight cubic
yards for your personal resource files. Magneto-thermal Properties of Sintered Gadolinium
E. Gmelin, et. al., ICEC 12 (UK), 1988, pp 432-436.
At least for a bare bones startup. Then
Determination of the Cooling Capacity of Magnetic Refrigerants
let it grow from there. S. Nikitin, et. al., Soviet Technical Physics Letters, April 1988, v14 #4, pp 327-328.
Your foremost outside resource
Magnetic Refrigerator
should be all of the trade journals. I T. Hashimoto, Refrigeration (Japan), 1988, v63 #733, pp 1189-1201.
subscribe to over 400 of them. As we Magnetic Field Changes in the Entropy of Europium Sulphide
have seen in the past, all fields do P. Bredy, et.al, Cyrogentic (UK), Sept 88, v28 #9, pp 605-606.
have all their own private technical Magnetothermal Conductivity of Er-Al for Cyrogenic Applications
magazines which are intended for a C.B. Zimm, et.al., Journal of Applied Physics, 15 April 1985, v57 #8, p4294-4296.
select group of insiders. Most of these Adiabatic Temperature Changes in Ferromagnetic Intermetallic Compounds
are free, provided you tell them what C.B. Zimm, et.al., Journal of Applied Physics, 15 April 1985, v57 #8, p3829.
they want to hear on their qual cards. Magnetic Refrigeration
Many include bingo cards, annual T. Hashimoto, et. al., Solid State Physics (Japan), March 1985, v20 #3, p161-175.
directories, and tech info. Characteristics of Magnetocaloric Refrigerants below 20K
Naturally, you’ll circle everything T. Hashimoto, et.al., ICEC 9 (Japan), May 1989, pp 26-29.
even remotely useable on the bingo A Composite Material for Magnetic Refrigeration Using Internal Heat Transfer.
cards. If in doubt, circle it. If you do B. Daudin, et.al, Cyrogenics (Great Britian), September 1982, v22 #9, pp 439-440.
not personally rent the largest box in Magnetic Refrigeration from 10K to Room Temperature
T. Hashimoto, et.al., Cyrogenics (Great Britian), November 1981, v21 #11, pp 647-653.
your local post office, you’ve missed
the point here completely. T-S Diagram for Gadolinium Near the Curie Temperature
S. Benford, et.al., Journal of Applied Physics, March 1981, v52 #3, pp 2110-2112.
Electronic trade journal examples
The Magnetocaloric Effect in Dysprosium
include EE Times, Electronics, EDN, S. Benford, et.al, Journal of Applied Physics, March 1979, v50 #3, pp 1868-1870.
Electronic Products, Electronic De-
sign, and dozens more. We’ll look at
these names and numbers in some Fig. 4 – A FEW OF THE RECENT PAPERS on magnetic refrigeration and the
future sidebar. new magnetocaloric effect.
33.3
Hardware Hacker
the virtually unknown Science Cita- You’ll definitely want to set up some technological breakthrough, one that
tions Index. Unlike all the others, this sort of an extensive personal network is eminently hackable, besides being
one lets you move forward through that involves people strictly outside a sure fire winner for a research topic,
time, rather than back into older and of friends, family, or work associates. school paper, or science fair entry.
older material. This works by listing Obviously, my help line works like a Only instead of me doing all the
who put whom into their end-of-paper champ here. Electronic bulletin board work, let’s try doing it together. See
bibliographies. systems are another great route to how much you can improve your re-
For instance, any competent new networking. So are clubs. search skills along the way.
technical paper on active filters must Your own personal experiments Just show me an easily done and
reference Sallen and Key. Anything can very much clarify any topic, as Radio-Electronics compatible method
new on cold fusion absolutely must can teaching a class about it. The to demo the magnetocaloric effect
list Pohns and Fleishman. Anything purpose of research is to get the effect described below, at room or lower
new on unfocused solar collectors you are after to show up reasonably temperatures. Or else add in any way
simply must cite Winston, and so on. well in as simple and as cheap a way (patents, papers, articles, data sheets,
If they don’t, then they aren’t worth as possible. etc…) to our ongoing magnetic refri-
reading anyhow. But stay in school forever. While geration dialog below.
Simply shove any of these names there’s lots of possibilities here, the There’ll be all the usual Incredible
through the index, and you generate best I’ve found are local community Secret Money Machine book prizes,
all of the newer papers in the field. college courses, and that self-study along with an all expense paid (FOB
After a while, new author names will material from Heath. Thatcher, AZ) tinaja quest going to
start cropping up and repeating. You Finally, simply let things gel. Take the very best of all. As usual, send
then use the avalanche effect to find Bowseretta up the mountain. Quest a your written entries directly to me
the latest and the best, just by starting tinaja. Map that terminal crawlway. here at Synergetics, rather than on
with one or two ancient authors. Any field has an order and a flow to over to Radio-Electronics editorial.
And do not ignore the library’s it. Often in directions which "they"
kiddie, young adult, or popular press don’t care to admit. Start with a few Magnetic Refrigeration
books. Excellent, understandable and fundamentals, think about it for a There’s apparently a brand new
readable backgrounds can be easily while, and a pretty fair picture of the way to cool things that is just turning
picked up in the Doubleday Science rest may fall in place without much in the corner from laboratory work to
Series, or the Life Science Library. the way of conscious intervention. preliminary product development. If
Beyond the library, you’ll want to Remember that sincerity is every- what has happened so far is to be
collect the specialty direct mail books thing. Once you’ve got that faked, all believed, it should completely blow
catalogs. We’ve covered this resource else follows. away many of the traditional cooling
in depth in a previous column and schemes, particularly for very low
contest. More details in my Hardware This Month’s Contest temperatures.
Hacker II reprints. Tellyawhat. I am about to reveal This genuine new breakthrough is
Let’s see. What else can you do? here for the first time a stunning new called the magnetocaloric effect, and
I have grossly oversimplified it in my
figure three. The latest key papers
appear in the listings of figure four.
0.015 µF
Basically, if you take critical rare
AUDIO IN earth elements or their alloys, they
+
-
will absorb heat when magnetized
33µF 2K 10 µF and release heat otherwise, acting as a
+ + DC OUT
+ heat pump. At least over some temp-
10 µF
erature ranges and over specified
10µF 10µF
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9
magnetic field strengths. Gadolinium
IIN CAP OUT GND LIN CAP CAP LIM
+ is one popular material.
NE604 Heat transfer operations take place
+ CAP GND MUT VCC RSO MAO UAO QIN
- 4.7K in and around the Curie Point. Most
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
33.6
Don Lancaster’s Using SAW Devices
34.6
Don Lancaster’s Using Vortex Coolers
odd if low
6 if low
4,5, or 6 if low
you lots of grief.
As a ferinstance, the three stage,
divide-by-six counter of figure one
normally provides this sequence…
000
100
110
GATED D Q D Q D Q TO
111
CLOCK C _ C _ C _
SECOND 011
INPUT Q Q Q DIE 001
0 0 0 (repeats)
But if you ever get into the 0 1 0
sequence, here’s what results…
Fig. 2 – ELECTRONIC DIE uses a walking ring counter in an unusual
010
1-3-5-6-4-2 sequence to greatly simplify the spot decoding.
1 0 1 (repeats)
gate per state. Further, a full decode of an adjacent one. Again in a very All of a sudden you now have a
—
uses all of the Q and Q outputs in a clean layout that is superb for high divide-by-two counter instead of the
balanced and symmetrical manner. frequency use. divide-by-six. Which could really be
Back in the days when you worried What is wrong with the walking bad news. Thus, you somehow have to
about the fanout of a logic block, this ring counter? Elegantly simple or not, guarantee that a walking counter
was a really big deal. it does have two bad habits. The first is never gets into any disallowed states!.
I’ll save the details on this for you that you need half as many flip flops or Resetting the counter or else pre-
to ponder over on your own, but most word bits as your count modulo. Using loading your software registers are
states decode using the Q output of five flip flops to divide by ten seems two good ways to prevent disallowed
—
one stage NAND ed with the Q output no big deal. But using 32 of them for a sequences. A sledgehammer cure is to
always force internal 1 states when-
ever the two ends of the counter are
IN-PHASE QUADRATURE
SINEWAVE OUT SINEWAVE OUT
also both set to 1. For instance, you
could AND decode the outside Q
outputs and use these to preset all the
internal stages to their 1 state. This
will quickly find any disallowed se-
quence and repair it on the fly.
31K 22K 31K 31K 22K 31K
Let’s look at three uses for walking
ring counters. I cannot believe how
many really dumb circuits have been
8X published in the trade journals that
INPUT
CLOCK D Q D Q D Q D Q were intended to generate three phase
C C C C
power control signals.
_ _ _ _
Q Q Q Q As figure one shows us, all you
really need is a divide-by-six walking
ring counter. Provide six times your
desired frequency, and you get three
square waves out, all phase shifted by
precisely 120 degrees.
Fig. 3 – QUADRATURE SINEWAVES which are phase shifted by precisely 90 You can obviously change the to-
degrees are easily generated with a walking ring counter. The uses include tal number of stages for a quadrature
single sideband communications and synchronous demodulation. output, for quad phase, five phase, etc.
35.2
November, 1990
More details on all of this in my CMOS temperatures. like a perpetual motion machine, it is
Cookbook. The best paper I’ve seen so far is the quite real and rigorously obeys the
Another great place to find lots of Magnetocaloric Effects in Rare-earth laws of thermodynamics.
really klutzy circuits is in an elec- Magnetic Materials, authored by A.S. As figure five shows us, a vortex
tronic dice game. Figure two shows Andreenko and crew in Soviet Physics cooler is nothing but a very specially
you the elegant simplicity of a walk- Usp 32 (8), August 1989. designed nozzle. The input is con-
ing ring die. Since an all solid state cooler would nected to a source of compressed air,
To understand this circuit, you first involve switching extremely strong as is commonly found in most pro-
define your die spot count sequence as magnetic fields, the chances are that duction areas. There are two outlets.
1-3-5-6-4-2 . This gives you a "free" some motion will be involved in most Hot air comes out the hot end and cold
even-odd decoding for the middle of the practical magnetic coolers. air comes out the cold end.
spot, and a "free" 4-5-6 decoding for Figure four shows you a shuttle type Leading manufacturers of vortex
two diagonal outside spots. cooler. Gadolinium is moved to an coolers are Vortec and Exair. They
Use a NAND gate to decode "not 1" area free of a magnetic field where it both have lots of catalogs, cassette
for the other two diagonal outside picks up heat from the object to be tapes, data sheets, and aplication notes
spots. Use an AND gate (or else two cooled. It is then moved into a very available.
diodes) to decode "six" for those two strong magnetic field where it dumps How does it work? The air enters
outside middle spots. A medium fre- energy to a suitable heat sink. This tangentally at faster than the speed of
quency gated oscillator clocks the die, cycle is repeated at an optimum rate sound and forms a rapidly spinning
and a second die can be cascaded off for the quantities of heat involved. hollow vortex cylinder having a very
the first one. Rotary coolers and Sterling Cycle high angular velocity. When it gets to
Finally, figure three shows you a coolers have also been proposed. See the hot end, some of it is released to
digital sinewave generator that pro- the above paper for more details. And ambient, and the rest of it spirals back
duces a pair of sinewaves frequency let me know any new resources you inside the spinning hollow inlet air
shifted precisely by 90 degrees. This run across on this. vortex cylinder.
circuit is based on stuff we looked at Now for the tricky part. The inlet air
back in the January 89 RE . See my Vortex Coolers and the outlet air are both spinning at
Hardware Hacker II for details. This is another type of "gee whiz" the same radial velocity, since they are
I’ve purposely left the part numbers type of cooler that is useful for cooling in contact with each other. But the
off all our figures this month, to en- electronic enclosures and doing such momentum of the inside air has to be
courage you to experiment on your specialized things as preventing any less since it has a smaller radius of
own. Your best choices will be such needle breakage in heavy duty sewing rotation, and since angular momentum
chips as a 4013 or 74HC74 dual Type D machines. A vortex cooler has zero is inversely proportional to the spin-
flip flop. Most any parallel out shift moving parts. While it looks and feels ning radius.
register could also be used, as could
software shift commands applied to
any old alterable byte.
For our contest this month, either
HEAT SINK HEAT SINK
(1) Show me an unusual use for a
TO AMBIENT TO AMBIENT
walking ring counter, or else (2) show
me some other circuit, tool, or tech- VERY STRONG GD BLOCK
nique that is elegantly simple. MAGNETIC
There will be all of those usual In- FIELD
credible Secret Money Machine book
prizes for the dozen top entries, with ZERO
an all expense paid (FOB Thatcher, GD BLOCK MAGNETIC
AZ) tinaja quest going to the best. FIELD
37.6
Don Lancaster’s Low cost visible lasers
38.7
January, 1990
25.7
Don Lancaster’s Machine shop resources
39.6
Don Lancaster’s Reloading toner cartridges
R
Unfortunately, all of the hacking
Y-
rules change in the VHF and micro- AX
IS
LIN
wave range. First, you no longer have EA
R
individual resistors, capacitors, and ST
EP
PE
inductors. R
green
41.6
Don Lancaster’s Power electronic resources
42.6
Don Lancaster’s Electric power research info
44.6
Don Lancaster’s Curve fitting fuzzy data
46.6
Don Lancaster’s Fractals & chaos update
47.6
Don Lancaster’s Effective shielding ideas
48.4
January, 1992
The Macintosh LC computer was
designed for use with the Mac color
monitors to the Mac color standards. GPS NAVIGATION RESOURCES
Since these can be expensive, lots of
hackers are often on the lookout for Ashtech NASA Tech Briefs
390 Potrero Avenue 41 East 42nd Street Ste. 921
lower cost substitutes. But note that Sunnyvale, CA 94086 New York City, NY 10017
you definitely can not use a NTSC (800) 229-2400 (212) 490-3999
color monitor with these because of Bancomm Rockwell Commercial GPS
the higher scan rates on the LC. 6541 Via del Oro P.O. Box 568842
And also do note that you should San Jose, CA 95119 Dallas, TX 75356
never buy a substitute monitor with- (408) 578-4161 (214) 996-5863
out making certain it works and is GPS World Speleonics
good enough for your uses. P.O. Box 10460 P.O. Box 5283
Happily, there is a hidden "secret" Eugene, OR 97440 Bloomington, IN 47407
(503) 343-1200 (812) 339-7305
provision on the Mac LC that lets you
change your LC output so it is VGA Magellan Systems Corp. TI/GPS Products
960 Overland Court PO Box 869305, M/S 8449
compatible. Quality VGA monitors San Dimas, CA 91773 Plano, TX 75086
are often available much cheaper in (818) 358-2363 (214) 575-4057
far wider selections than are "real" Magnavox Trimble Navigation
Mac monitors. 2829 Maricopa Street 585 North Mary Avenue
The secret jumper that changes the Torrance, CA 90503 Sunnyvale, CA 94086
LC scan rates for VGA compatibility (800) 421-5864 (800) TRI-MBLE
is shown you in figure five.
Amazingly, the antennas needed Bancomm, Texas Instruments, and
GPS Nav Resources are no big deal. They can easily fit Trimble Navigation. Trimble has a
From time to time we’ve looked at inside a small shoebox. Unlike video nice GPS intro book available titled
the Navicube concept right here in satellites, the GPS antennas need a GPS – A guide to the next utility.
Hardware Hacker. The Navicube is a wide beamwidth, a narrow frequency Let me know if you want any more
magic $5 cube 3" on a side which bandwidth, plus the pseudorandom specific info on the GPS frequencies,
always knows where it is and which modulation which works acceptably codings, and user protocols. I’ll be
way it is pointing. Several recent well with lower signal-to-noise ratios. happy to get into this further if there
developments that should ultimately The antennas do require line-of-sight is enough interest.
make the Navicube possible include operation, so they have to be used
low cost accelerometers, advances in outdoors, on a rooftop, or on the top New Tech Lit
new fiber optic gyros, and the of a vehicle or boat. From Actel, a new databook on
ongoing GPS navigation system. Since the reception electronics is Field Programmable Gate Arrays.
GPS is short for Global Positioning incredibly complex, it is unlikely you And from Mini-Circuits a new RF/IF
Satellites, a military navigation sys- would want to try and build up your Signal Processing Guide on higher
tem that has recently seen several own GPS receivers by using discrete frequency mixers, splitters, ampli-
dramatic improvements in price, re- components. fiers, transformers, and such. Their
liability, and availability. I’ve tried Thankfully, sophisticated chip sets broadband ampliifiers cost around a
to gather together some GPS info for are now becoming readily available dollar or so each.
you as this month’s resource sidebar. from Rockwell, Magellan, and others. A free update on our Santa Claus
The system consists of a flock of Their initial pricing is in the $500 machine technology is now titled an
roving satellites, any five or six of range. But it is reasonable to expect Insiders Guide to Rapid Prototyping,
which should be overhead at any Japanese GPS chips within a year or and is available from Management
given time. These satellites broadcast two for under $35. So now is the time Roundtable. These folks also put on
a series of low microwave frequency to start on your GPS hacks. annual conferences.
radio signals. By intercepting and Even today, the pricing is certainly A new quarterly hacker newlsetter
comparing the signals from several within the range of, say, trucking on lower cost vacuum projects and
overhead satellites, you can extract firms or land surveyors. techniques is now available through
your current absolute position and do The leading trade journal in this Steve Hansen.
so to around a fifty foot accuracy. new field is called, of all things, GPS Free samples of Liquisorb, a low
Your speed, acceleration, and current World. It is free to qualified subscri- cost cornstarch collodial absorbent,
time could also get determined to bers. An interesting hacker newsletter are available from American Colloid
surprisingly high accuracies. Within that deals with navigation and comm Company. Since these sample packets
two inches per second even. of interest to cavers is Frank Reid’s dramatically swell up in the presence
And by shifting to a differential great Speleonics. Some other GPS of liquid water, one obvious use is as
scheme from any one known and info appears from time to time in a low cost flood alarm where the ex-
fixed point, you can improve your NASA Tech Briefs. Several other panding package actuates a switch of
accuracy to a fraction of an inch. sources of GPS gear include Ashtech, some sort.✦
48.5
Hardware Hacker
48.6
Hardware Hacker III
Keywords – Index
AA cell – 40.6, 45.2 AM radio interference – 48.1 artificial intelligence – 25.4
abrupt doping profile – 41.2 amateur television – 37.5, 40.5 Asea Brown Bovari – 38.4
ABS – 30.3 Amecon – 47.4 ASCII text strings – 32.1
AC – 47.3 American Colloid Company – 48.5 ASCII textfile – 31.1
ac amplifier – 39.3 American Design Components – 26.4 Ashtech – 48.5
AC induction motor – 38.1, 38.3 American Micro Devices – 32.3 Ask The Guru – 30.5
ac power control – 31.3 American Safety Razor – 29.3 Ask the Guru III – 38.6, 43.4, 44.5
ac power switch – 31.1 American Science & Surplus – 45.2, ASM International – 31.5
AC syncrhonous motor – 38.2 46.4 association bookstores – 41.4, 41.5
accellerator chips – 42.1 American Society of Materials – 41.4 Assn for Computer Machinery – 32.2
accelerometers – 27.3 American Voice I/O Society – 46.5 Assn for the Advancement of Science –
acoustical receiver – 34.4 ammonia – 28.3 41.4
acoustical transmitter – 34.4 ammonium persulfate – 28.1 Association of Energy Engineers –
acrylic – 36.1 ampere turns – 44.4 28.4, 41.4
Actel – 48.5 Amperex – 39.2, 39.3, 43.1 AST Servo – 27.3
active bandpass filter – 34.3 amplitude – 37.2 Astrophysical Journal – 32.5
Active Filter Cookbook – 34.3, 36.4 amplitude response – 34.3 Atochem – 39.3
active filter resources – 34.5 Amuneal – 48.2 atomic processes – 31.1
active filters – 33.4, 34.2, 34.5, 36.1, Analog Devices – 26.3, 29.1, 34.3, 34.4 attaboys – 30.1
37.2, 39.1 analog front end – 43.3 attenuate – 37.4
A/D convert – 34.4 Analog Integrated Circuits – 34.5 attenuation – 37.2
Ademco – 26.3 Analog Products Highlights – 34.5 attraction – 38.1, 38.2
Adobe Systems – 31.2, 32.2, 33.5, 42.4, analysis – 42.3 ATV – 40.5
47.2 Anderson Power Products Inc – 40.6 Audio Amateur – 31.1
Adobe Type I Font Format – 33.5 angular velocity – 35.3 Audio Engineering Society – 41.4
Advance Magnetics – 48.2 animation – 32.3 Audio Handbook – 46.5
aerogel – 30.5 animation stands – 44.2, 47.1 Audio and Video – 36.3
AEE Energy Books – 31.5 annodize – 30.3 Audio & Video Data Book – 47.5
air conditioner – 25.2, 38.1, 38.3 Annulus – 39.5 audio level meter – 33.5, 37.2, 37.3
air gaps – 44.4 ANSI – 47.5 audio tone – 28.2
air handler – 25.3 anthill – 33.1 audio voltmeter – 33.4, 33.5
Airpax – 44,4 Antelope Springs – 28.3 audio/video switches – 40.6
alarm – 26.3 antique radio – 31.5 audiovisual control – 36.2
Alarm & Security Resources – 26.3, antique radio tubes – 30.5 audiovisual switcher – 36.1
26.4 Apple Computer – 35.1, 40.2 auto chips – 34.5
Alarm Installer & Dealer – 26.3 Apple Assembly Cookbook – 25.6 autocorrellator – 27.1
aliasing – 34.4 Apple IIe – 32.3, 35.1, 36.1, 39.1 autodesk – 47.2
alien – 25.4 Apple IIgs – 32.3 Automotive Electronics – 33.5
alkaline cell – 39.3 AppleWriter – 36.1 automotive ignition – 29.5
alkaline "D" cell – 25.3 Appliance – 30.3, 38.4 avalanche effect – 33.4
All Electronics – 34.5 Appliance Manufacturer – 38.4 Avantek – 41.3
Allen, Jim – 28.4 arc welder – 43.4 avuncular sleezoids – 45.3
Alltronics – 36.4 arcane applications – 25.1 AVIOS – 46.5
Alnico magnet – 29.4 Arco Solar – 28.4 Aware Incorporated – 42.1, 42.4
alternate energy – 28.3, 43.4 areas – 42.3
Alternate Energy Sourcebook – 47.5 Aremco – 47.5 BA1404 – 44.1, 47.1
alternates to patents – 37.1 Arius – 26.3 back emf – 38.2
alternators – 44.4, 47.1 Arlin Shepard – 30.1 backlash – 44.4
altimeters – 40.5 armature – 38.1 Steve Baer – 28.4
Alumilite – 33.5 array – 25.6, 42.1 Bakerizing – 44.4, 44.5
Alvin Marks – 46.2 art – 40.5 Bakerizing film – 44.5
ix
Hardware Hacker III
x
Hardware Hacker III
Circuit Cellar Ink – 31.1, 36.3 condense – 26.3 cubic polynominal – 45.4
Circuit Design – 36.4 condenser – 28.3 CUPL demo disk – 29.5
Circuit Specialists – 38.6 conducted energy – 48.1 Curie Point – 33.4
Circuit Works – 36.4 conducted interference – 48.2 current – 47.2
Circuits Assembly – 39.5 conductive adhesive – 29.3 current limiter – 47.2, 47.3
clamping paper cutter – 27.5 conductive pen – 36.4 current monitor – 47.4
clamshell – 30.3 connectors – 29.4 current noise – 29.2
CLASS services – 43.1 Conpad – 33.5 current sensor – 47.4
climb – 42.2 conservation – 43.4 current sensing – 47.2
clock – 38.2 conservation of energy – 38.2 current steering – 26.4
clock frequency – 38.5 Constantine – 30.3 current transformer – 47.2, 47.4
clockwise – 44.3 constant percentage – 37.3 cutoff frequency – 34.1
CMA – 33.5 constant phase – 34.4 cyan – 29.1
CMOS – 27.1 consumer video – 47.2 Cycolor – 29.1
CMOS Cookbook – 29.5, 34.5, 35.3, contact release – 44.2 Cycle-Flex – 33.5
36.4, 38.6, 40.6, 44.5, 46.5 content dependent – 32.1 cycloconverters – 38.4
CMOS Memory – 46.5 contest – 33.4, 35.3, 39.4 cyliths – 29.1
CMOS Schmidt trigger – 26.4 continuity break – 48.1 Cypress Semiconductor – 46.5
Coburn – 30.3 continuous research – 33.3 cyrogenics – 33.5
cocobolo – 30.3 Control Automation – 36.3 CX cartridge refilling – 40.2
Code of Federal Regulations – 45.1 control terminal – 31.3 CX engine – 30.1
cogeneration – 43.4 controlled circulation – 35.4 CX Glompenstractor – 40.2
coil – 44.1 controller – 25.3 CX refilling details – 40.2
cold – 33.5 cooler – 35.3
cold fusion – 25.1, 31.1, 33.4, 37.4 cooling – 33.4 D/A Converters – 32.5
cold fusion cell – 26.2 cooling ideas – 25.1 DAC per pin – 44.4
cold fusion kits – 26.1 cooling mode – 25.2 daisy chain – 32.4
cold fusion papers – 26.1 co-processor – 32.4 Dallas Semiconductor – 30.1, 38.5,
cold fusion update – 26.2 copper board – 26.3 46.4, 47.4
cold water – 28.1 copy machine chassis – 33.5 damper diode – 48.4
collodial absorbent – 48.5 CopyMate Products – 40.2 damping – 34.1, 34.3
color palette – 41.5 corner frequency – 34.1, 34.3 data acquisition – 46.4
color shifts – 32.4 corner rounder – 27.5 data bit – 46.3
command word – 30.2 Cory Laboratories – 40.6 Data Communications Handbook –
commodity – 39.3 COSMAC – 34.5 30.5
common mode – 48.1 cosmic cupcake syndrome – 33.2 data compaction – 25.6
Communications of the ACM – 32.2 cost – 34.4 data compression – 32.1, 36.3
Communications Products – 47.5 count length – 35.1 Data Conversion Products Databook –
Communications Specialists – 43.4 counterclockwise – 44.3 26.4
community college – 39.4 counterexample – 33.2 data message format – 43.2
commutator – 38.1 couplings – 29.5 data modulation – 32.1
Compendex – 42.1 CPU – 31.1 data path – 43.1
complex signal – 27.2 CR Magnetics – 47.4 data points – 45.4
Compliance Engineering – 31.5, 45.1, crap shoot – 26.2 David Gaddis – 47.5
48.2 crease resistance – 44.5 DBM – 37.4
composite objects – 36.2 critically damped – 34.1 DC current measurement – 47.1
compound curves – 36.2 cross axis sensitivity – 30.4 DC-DC converter – 29.5
compound miter cut – 30.4 cross correllation – 32.5 dc output – 27.2
compress – 36.3 cross-genre classic – 32.1 DCT – 36.2, 36.3
compression – 32.1 crystal – 25.1 DCT filters – 42.4
compression ratio – 32.1, 32.4 crystal set – 46.1 DCT transforms – 42.3
compression stop – 30.4 Crystek – 40.6 deblur – 42.2
compressor – 38.1 Cryptosystems Journal – 32.5 decibels – 37.2, 37.2
Computer Literacy Bookshop – 31.5 C60 – 43.3 Deco Shapes – 29.3
Computer Shopper – 25.6, 44.5 cubic – 45.4 decoder – 46.3
xi
Hardware Hacker III
xii
Hardware Hacker III
xiii
Hardware Hacker III
Geneva Stop Mechanism – 46.3 Hall voltage – 29.4 hobby modelmaking – 31.5
GEnie – 30.5, 34.5, 36.1, 46.2 Haltek Electronics – 38.6 Hoechst Celanese – 30.5, 34.5
GEnie PSRT – 35.1, 38.6, 39.1, 40.4, Hamlin – 30.4 hogwash – 45.1
41.1, 42.4, 42.5, 43.4, 44.5, 45.3, 46.5, Hammond – 30.3 holding tank – 40.1
47.5 hand-coded program – 25.4 Holy Grail – 26.2
genlock – 46.2 hand punch – 39.4 Home Automation USA – 47.5
geodetic dome – 43.3 handle – 29.3 home energy monitor – 47.4
geophysics – 34.4 Hansen, Steve – 48.5 Home Power – 28.3, 46.2
GhostScript – 47.5 hard coated drums – 40.2 Home Shop Machinist – 39.5
gigawatt – 37.3 hard disk formats – 32.3 homebrew cases – 30.3
Gila Monsters – 33.2 hard drum recoating – 40.4 Homebuild Rotorcraft – 40.6, 41.5
glass etching – 27.5 hard limiting – 41.1 homodyne detector – 27.1
Gleick, James – 25.5, 47.2 Hardware Hacker – 36.1, 40.4, 43.4, homodyne detection – 27.3
globally – 38.6 46.5, 47.5 Hong Kong – 47.5
Global Positioning Satellites – 48.5 Hardware Hacker II – 25.6, 26.4, 30.2, horizontal line – 46.3
glompenstractor – 40.3 31.5, 33.5, 36.3, 36.4, 38.4, 42.5 horizontal resolution – 48.2
glue gun – 40.4 Hardware Hacker III – 38.6, 39.5, 40.6, horizontal scale – 42.2
glut – 37.4 44.4, 44.5 horizontal shift – 42.2
Godzilla vs the Night Nurses – 32.1 hardware hacking – 37.1 horizontal yoke – 48.3
gold plating – 40.3 harmonics – 34.1 horror stories – 44.4
Golly gee, Mr. Science – 26.2 Harris Publishing – 40.4 horse trailer – 30.3
gonzo justification routines – 31.2 Haygeman Machine – 25.6 Hosfelt Electronics – 31.5
good deed – 35.1 hazardous materials – 28.1 host controller – 30.2
Goodyear blimp – 37.5 Haz-Mat – 28.1 Hostess Twinkies – 39.4
GoScript – 31.2 HDTV – 32.1, 33.1, 42.3 hot foil die-stamping – 27.5
GPS – 48.5 heat flux – 25.2 hot-knife sign cutters – 27.5
GPS: A guide to the next utility – 48.5 heat pump – 25.1 hotline – 43.1
GPS antennas – 48.5 heat sealing iron – 37.5 hot mercury – 37.1
GPS World – 48.5 heated roller – 26.3 house organ – 33.5
graphics equalizer – 38.6 heater – 31.3, 34.5 How to Automate your Home – 47.5
WW Grainger – 38.4 Heath – 33.4, 39.3 howled – 27.3
Grantham – 36.2 Heathkit – 43.1 HPGL – 26.3
granular powder – 36.2 heating mode – 25.2 HSTOGRAM.PS – 42.4
graphite – 43.3 heatsink – 25.2, 31.3 hue – 27.2
grinder – 39.4 heatsink efficiency – 25.1 Huffman – 36.3
GRIPS-2 CD-ROM – 43.4 heavy duty stuff – 25.6 Huffman coding – 32.2, 42.3
GripWorks – 29.3 heavy water – 25.1 Huffman compression – 32.1
ground currents – 29.2 Hello Direct – 44.1 Hughes – 35.3
grounded sync tips – 32.5 help line – 33.4 human brain – 25.4, 31.1
group delay – 34.4 Henry Yen – 47.2 human vision – 42.3
Group III compresion – 32.3 Herbach & Rademan – 38.4, 39.3, 42.5, humidity control – 46.5
Guard Box – 46.4 43.1 humidity sensors – 26.3
Guru’s & Swami’s Union – 41.1 Hewlett-Packard – 30.1, 34.5, 40.2, 40.6 Hurst – 40.4
gyroscope – 26.4, 33.1, 36.1, 41.4 High Current Transistor – 33.5 HVAC News – 28.4
high definition television – 42.3 hydrogen – 31.1
H field – 45.2 High Energy Enterprises – 48.1 hygrometer – 26.3, 29.5
H&A Industries – 31.5, 33.1 high energy resources – 45.1 hyperabrupt profile – 41.2
H&R Enterprises – 38.6 high gloss – 44.5 HyperCard – 25.4
hacker magazine – 26.1 high pass filter – 34.1 hysteresis – 38.3
Hacker’s Holy Grail – 35.4 High Speed CMOS Logic – 32.5
Hagen, Jerry – 40.6 hippie commune – 28.3 I486 Microporcessor – 31.5
Hall effect – 25.6, 29.3 HIRES – 32.4 IBM – 32.5
Hall effect devices – 29.4, 29.5 histogram – 42.3 ice – 25.1
Hall Effect Sensors – 29.5 Hitachi – 36.3, 47.5 ideas – 37.1
Hall Effect Transducers – 29.5 hitch works – 30.3 IEEE Energy Conversion – 38.4
xiv
Hardware Hacker III
IF amplifier passband – 34.4 Integrated Circuits Data Book – 38.6 JPEG Technical Standard – 42.4
IGVT – 34.5 Integrated Device Technology – 38.6 junkyard – 44.2
IGUS – 26.4 integrated programs – 25.4
illustration packages – 31.2 integrations – 34.1 Kapton – 26.3, 28.1
image compession – 25.5, 32.1 Intel – 31.5 KBC Tools – 39.5
Image Sensors – 32.5 intelligent power drivers – 47.5 Kelvin measurement – 47.1
incandescent lamps – 31.2 interaction – 37.3 Kepro – 39.4
inclinometer – 27.3, 30.4 interface – 31.3 key papers – 33.4, 43.4
Incredible Secret Money Machine – interfering signal – 27.2 Keystone – 30.3
25.4, 26.2, 26.4, 27.5, 28.2, 29.4, 30.5, interlace – 33.1, 46.3 kilowatts – 48.3
31.5, 33.5, 34.5, 35.3, 35.4, 36.3, 36.4, interlace scan – 48.3 KIM-1 – 39.1
37.2, 37.5, 38.4, 39.4, 39.5, 41.4, 44.5, Interlibrary Loan Service – 33.3, 36.3, Kindt-Collins – 42.5
46.5 42.1 King Alarm – 26.3
Incredible Secret Money Machine II – Intermark – 48.2 kinky sex lines – 37.1
46.5, 47.5 intermittent – 38.2 Klockit – 29.5
independent research – 33.2 internal resistance – 39.3 klutzily – 35.1
indicating spot – 39.4 International CMOS Technology – Knight, Bob – 44.2
indirect method – 47.3 38.6 Komacel – 31.5
indium – 28.2 International Micro Electronics – 38.6 Kroy Color – 26.3, 27.5, 33.5, 44.5
induced currents – 48.1 International Rectifier – 34.5 Kumhakov lens – 43.3
induced voltages – 48.1 International Security Conference – Kynar Piezeo Film – 39.3
induction motor speed control – 38.1 26.3
inductive loads – 44.1 International Standard Periodicals Lab anomaly – 37.4
inductors – 34.1 Dictionary – 26.3, 33.3 Laminates Incorporated – 29.3
Industrial Education – 36.2 interpreted language – 25.4 laminating – 44.4
Industrial Micro – 45.1 Intro to PostScript video – 26.4 lamp – 31.3
industrial waxes – 42.5 Introduction to Radar Systems – 40.6 lamp filament inertia – 31.4
industry trade journals – 31.4 inventor – 37.1 Lancaster Classics Library – 31.5, 36.4,
inefficient – 25.1, 25.2 Inventor-Entrepreneur Network – 41.5 41.5, 43.4
inept motions – 33.3 inverse transform – 42.2 Lancaster, Jeff – 26.3
inertia – 38.1 I-Q demodulator – 27.1 large display letters – 40.5
Infochip Systems – 32.4 irresponsible manufacturers – 40.3 laser toner image – 44.5
Infocom – 32.1 ISO – 47.5 LaserWriter – 35.1
information theory – 32.1 isometric lettering – 42.2 LaserWriter Corner – 25.6
infrared detectors – 25.3 isopod – 47.4, 47.5 LaserWriter NT – 30.1
infrared film – 37.5 Isotech – 25.1 LaserWriter NTX – 30.1, 40.3
infrared laser – 36.2 Iterated Systems – 47.2 LaserWriter Reference – 30.1
infrared people detectors – 39.2, 43.1 LaserWriter Secrets – 30.5, 42.5
infrared signature – 39.1, 39.3 J&L Industrial Supply – 39.5 LaserWriter technical information –
initialize – 30.2 James Gleick – 25.5, 47.2 30.1
initgraphics – 31.2 Japanese air conditioners – 25.3 latch – 31.4, 36.4
inorganic solids – 30.5 Jensen Tools – 26.3, 40.2, 40.3, 46.4 latent image – 29.1
in-phase – 27.4 Jerry Hagen – 40.6 lateral time code – 46.1, 46.2, 46.3
in-phase term – 27.2 JerryCo – 33.5, 38.4 lathe – 39.4
Insiders Guidt to Rapid Prototyping – JFET operational amplifiers – 36.4 laws of thermodynamics – 33.2
48.5 Jiffy Bags – 27.5 Lazer Products – 30.1, 33.5, 40.1
Inspec – 42.1 Johnson Counters – 35.1 L/C ratio – 34.1
instability – 27.3 Joint Photographic Experts Group – LD-50 load detector – 47.4
instant cold – 25.3 32.4, 42.4 lean – 42.2
Instant Modeling – 36.1 Jones, Marlin – 36.4 least squares – 45.3
instant suede – 29.5 Jones & Bartlett – 42.1, 48.1 least squares curve fitting – 45.3
Institute Electrical & Electronic Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry LED – 37.4, 37.5
Engineers – 41.4 – 25.1, 37.4 LED output drivers – 31.4
insulation – 25.2 JPEG – 32.4 Lehman Scientific – 26.4
integrated circuits – 29.5 JPEG compression – 33.1 lens design – 39.3
xv
Hardware Hacker III
lethal shock hazard – 31.3 low cost memory – 30.2 Materials Catalog – 47.5
letterhead – 35.4 low noise amplifiers – 29.1, 41.3 Materials & Electrochemical Research
leuco dye – 29.1 low noise preamp – 29.2 – 43.4
Leviton – 39.3 low pass active filters – 34.2 Materials Safety Data Sheet – 28.1
library research – 33.1 low pass filter – 34.1 34.3 math – 27.2
Lichtman, Jeff – 32.5 low resistance – 47.3 math freak – 25.4
Life Sceince Library – 33.4 low temperature alloys – 28.1 math rule – 42.1
light dimmer – 38.2, 48.1 LSI Logic – 40.6 Mathsci – 42.1
Light Emitting Diode – 27.5 LSI Systems – 31.4, 47.4 matter – 33.2
Light Machines – 36.2 lubricants – 43.4 Maxim – 29.5, 32.4, 34.3, 34.4, 34.5,
Lightwave – 25.6 Lucas Sensing Systems – 30.4 45.2, 47.4
Lindsay Publications – 31.5, 33.1, 38.4, Lumeloid – 46.2 Maxim Design News – 45.3
39.5, 45.1 lunchbox handle – 40.2 Maxim Engineering Journal – 40.6,
line frequency – 38.2 LVDT – 27.3, 36.4 44.5
line-of-sight – 48.5 LX cartridge recharging – 40.3, 40.4 McMaster Carr – 39.5
linear – 29.4, 37.3, 45.4 Mead Imaging – 29.1
linear actuators – 25.1 M/A Com – 40.6 Measurement & Control – 27.3, 47.3
linear current ramp – 48.3 MacDonald interface – 47.5 mechanical goodies – 29.3
Linear IC Data Book – 28.3 machinable wax – 29.3, 36.2 Medical Electronic Products – 41.5
Linear Integrated Circuits – 29.5 Machine Design – 38.4, 39.5 Medical Equipment Designer – 41.5
Linear Data Book, 1990 – 27.5 machine shop resources – 39.4 Melcor – 25.1, 25.3
Linear Data Manual II – 27.4 Macintosh – 32.3 melody – 31.4
Linear Devices – 38.6 Macintosh LC – 48.4, 48.5 melody chip – 31.4, 35.2
linear graphics transform – 42.2 macromodel – 30.5 memory – 30.1
linear predictive coding – 32.3 Magellan – 48.5 Memory Card Systems & Design –
linear sinewave – 27.3 magenta – 29.1 44.5
linear stepper – 44.4 magenta dye – 29.1 Memory Data Book – 30.5
Linear Technology – 27.5, 29.1, 30.5, magic bullet – 33.2 mercury – 30.4
34.3, 34.4 magic liquid – 30.4 mercury activator – 28.1
linear voltage differential transformer magic subcarrier – 27.2 Meridian Data – 43.4
– 27.3 magnet – 29.4, 36.1, 44.1 Merigraph – 36.2
linearity – 37.2 magnetic energy – 48.4 mesmerizingly awful reps – 30.1
liquid crystal – 39.3, 39.4 magnetic field – 48.1 message length word – 43.2
liquid cyan – 29.1 magnetic flux – 38.4 message type word – 43.2
liquid gases – 33.5 magnetic harmonics – 38.4 metal locator – 27.4
Liquisorb – 48.5 magnetic materials – 48.2 Metalphoto – 30.3
lithium hydroxide – 26.2 magnetic refrigeration – 33.3, 33.4, Metals Handbook – 41.4
load detector – 47.4 35.3, 39.1 metric gears – 25.6
load levelling – 47.4 magnetic refrigerator – 35.3 Micro Cookbook I – 36.4, 41.5
load resistor – 39.4 Magnetic Shield Corp – 48.2 Micro Cookbook II – 36.4, 44.2
load shedding – 47.4 magnetized roller – 40.1 Micro Linear – 36.3
locally – 38.6 magnetocaloric effect – 33.2, 33.4 Micro Linear Data Book – 33.5
Loch Ness – 34.5 mailer – 42.5 MicroCAD News – 30.5
lock-in amplifier – 27.1, 27.2 mailing list – 32.1 microcapsule technology – 36.4
locomotive – 42.4 Management Roundtable – 48.5 microcomputer triac interface – 31.2
log – 37.3 Manchester coding – 46.3 microcontroller – 43.2
log amps – 33.5 Mandlebrot – 25.5 Microcontroller Handbook – 34.5
logarithmic – 37.3 Mandlebrot Set – 25.5 microcontroller – 25.4, 30.4, 36.4, 43.3
Logic Databook – 38.6 Manley-Rowe relations – 41.3 Micron – 33.5
Logical Devices – 29.5 Markel – 46.5 Microperipheral Products Data Book –
Lorenz attractor – 32.5 Markoff scheme – 32.4 29.5
loss – 37.2 Marks, Alvin – 46.2 microphone preamplifier – 29.3
lossless – 32.1 Marlin Jones – 36.4 micropositioners – 27.3
lossless transform – 42.2 Master Product Catalog – 46.5 microstepping – 44.3
lost Guru columns – 35.1 masterCAM – 36.2 microwave – 40.6
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safety isolation – 31.3 Security Show, The – 26.3 shop courses – 39.4
Sallen-Key – 34.2 security systems – 26.3 Short Circuits – 33.5
Sallen and Key – 33.4, 37.2 seismometry – 27.3 shorted turn – 48.1
sample – 29.3, 29.4, 34.5, 35.1 Selectrim – 32.5 shotgun technique – 37.1
sample copies – 26.2 self-clocking code – 46.3 show-and-tell – 26.2
Samsung – 26.4, 28.3, 32.5, 37.2 self-healing plastic – 34.5 Shreve Systems – 42.5
sand – 30.3 self-lubricating bearings – 26.4 shrink wrapper – 27.5
sand dune – 41.1 selfsimilar copy – 25.6 shunt – 47.3
sandblasting – 40.6 self-starts – 38.2 Sickels, Bob – 32.5
Sandia National Laboratories – 28.4, Self-Stick Chips – 46.4 sideband filtering – 34.4
35.3 Semiconductor Databook – 31.5, 34.5 side-looking – 27.2
sanity – 37.1 Semicondutor Diode Parametric Siemens – 34.5, 48.2
Santa Claus machine – 36.1, 36.4, 40.4, Amplifiers – 41.3 Sierra Semiconductor – 43.3, 43.4
40.5, 44.2, 48.5 Semiconductor Product Guide – 26.4 SIGGRAPH – 25.5
Santa Claus update – 36.1 sensing magnetic fields – 29.4 sign cutters – 44.2
Sanyo – 25.6 sense – 38.4 signal conditioner – 27.3
Satco – 43.4 sensor – 28.3, 39.2 signal path – 27.1
Satellite Receivers – 29.5 Sensors – 27.3, 47.3 SignCraft – 31.5
satellite – 25.3, 33.1 sequence – 35.1 Signetics – 25.6, 33.5, 41.5, 46.5
Satellite Cable & TV – 40.6 Serco – 30.3 silicon controlled rectifiers – 39.1, 41.4
satellite downlinks – 40.5 serial clock – 36.4 silicon power diodes – 41.2
satin finish – 30.3 serial data stream – 43.3 silicon solar cell – 46.1
saturation – 27.2 serial input data – 36.4 Silicon Systems – 29.5, 47.5
"Save my baby!" – 28.1 serial interface – 36.4 Silicon Valley Surplus – 29.5
SAW device – 34.4 serial number – 46.4 silicone oils – 30.4
SAW filters – 34.4, 41.1 series DC motor – 38.1 silver-plated particles – 29.4
scams – 37.1 series motor – 38.1 SIMM – 25.4, 31.1
Schaevitz – 36.4 series resistance – 41.2 Simpson – 47.3
school report – 26.2 serious researchers – 26.2 sinewave generator – 36.3
school research paper – 43.4 Serpenski triangle – 25.3 Singing Wind – 31.5
School Shop – 36.2 service – 40.1 sinkhole – 37.5
Schottky diode – 45.3 service bureau – 36.1 sintering – 36.2
Science – 26.1, 26.2, 29.5, 30.5, 31.1, service manual – 40.1, 40.2 skin effect – 48.1
32.5, 41.4, 43.4, 46.2 service records – 40.2 sledgehammer cure – 35.2
Science Citations Index – 33.4 SETI activities – 32.5 sleeping bag zipper – 39.4
science fair – 25.3, 26.2, 43.4, 45.2 settransfer – 31.2 slip – 38.3
Science Frontiers – 34.5 sewing machines – 35.3 slip ring brushes – 44.3
Science News – 46.2 SGS-Thomson – 29.5, 31.3, 33.5, 36.3, slip rings – 38.1, 44.3
Science of Fractal Images – 25.5 38.2, 42.5, 44.4, 44.5 Slo-Syn – 44.4
Scientific American Amateur Scientist shaft encoder – 27.2, 29.5 slop – 25.6
– 37.5 shake-the-box kit – 45.2 slot – 48.1
SCOPE Octal drivers – 38.6 shape alloy wire – 29.4 slow blow buse – 37.1
Scope Evaluation Kit – 29.5 Sharp – 29.5, 30.5, 34.5 SLS – 40.4
scoring – 27.5 shear – 39.4 Small Motor handbook – 38.4
Scotch tape – 40.3 sheet steel – 48.2 Small Parts – 28.1, 39.4
SCR – 4.14, 42.4 shell – 29.1 Small Power Production Manual – 41.4
scroll compressor – 25.3 Shepard, Arlin – 30.1 smoothing fuzzy data – 45.3
SCSI – 34.5 shield – 48.1 SMPTE time codes – 46.1, 46.2
search – 46.3 shielded cables – 32.4 SMT grabbers – 32.5
Sears – 39.5 shielding – 29.2 snap action – 29.4
second harmonic distortion – 41.2 shields & sheilding – 48.1 snap around ammeter – 47.3
second order filter – 34.1 shift registers – 39.1 snap-together – 40.6
Security Dealer – 26.3 shock hazard – 31.3 Snow Belt Solar – 28.4
Security Distributing & Marketing – shoddy quality – 30.2 Society Amateur Radio Astronomers –
26.3 shoe polish – 40.4 32.5
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