CC_1988_i0005.pdf

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Not the Same Old Song

* hen you design and create for a living -- whether it’s process control applications, scientific

i, !:j applications software, commercial products, or magazines -- there is always the great

:_ G_ temptation to fall back on tried and true formulas rather than look for truly innovative

solutions. Deadline and budget pressures build up, creative frustration mounts, and before you know

it you’re singing “Why reinvent the wheel” instead of “I did it my way.”

.Now, don’t get me wrong. There are many times when a proven solution is just the ticket for

a particular problem. It’s just sad to see people move from creative problem solving to rote formula

recitation. We’re not going to let that happen here at Circuit Cellar INK, and we’re going to do our

best not to let it happen to you.

This month, you’ll notice that some of our articles (check out “ROVER”) look a little different.

We think that the new captions and layouts will help you get into the article a little more easily. In

coming issues, you’ll see some other differences, all of them aimed at making Circuit Cellar INK

not only useful, but enjoyable.

You’ll also notice the ads for our two new services. Many of you have told us that you would

like to get the software mentioned in Circuit Cellar INK articles, but you can’t log onto the Circuit

Cellar BBS. Now, you can order all of the software for a particular issue on the Software Disk for

the issue. Speaking of the BBS, if you can’t log on, but you still want to get the solid information

that’s posted every day, now you can order the Circuit Cellar BBS On Disk, two months’ worth of

BBS messages on IBM PC disks. Both of these new services will get more information into your hands

faster than ever before.

We’re going to keep you on track by giving you articles that have solid, practical design infor-

mation wrapped in a package that will let you look at problems from a fresh perspective. As an

example, Steve’s at his best with his latest project, beginning on page 4. Sure, other magazines could

tell you how to build the hardware, but how many others can give you the itch to go out and do

something creative right now?

It all boils down to just how good you want to be. Using the proven solution is fine now and

then, but relying on the old and true too often leads to a complacent slide into mediocrity. If you

want to be the best, then, it calls for striking out into new ways of thinking about problems, designs,

and solutions. That’s where you want to be, and you can count on us to be there with you, educating,

stimulating, and entertaining.

Curtis Franklin, Jr.

Editor-in-Chief

: “”

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Ctti

N K

Letters to the Editor

While looking forward to an article on the subject

of autonomy and power supplies, I am dropping you

word of what one user is getting by with and adding

a word of thanks for your articles.

I live in an area which is sparsely populated, hilly,

and subject to thunderstorms, the consequence being

that long stretches of main distribution lines are

exposed to every passing lightning flash. The protec-

tion system (for the electricity corporation’s property)

is very good, and it cuts out quickly and often. Some

form of autonomous supply was necessary, especially

after one motherboard received something up its parity

chips, this from an unlucky lightning strike which

arrived without any warning whatsoever.

Not being attracted to the idea of buying a machine

to convert the main down to 12 volts, store it, and then

convert it back up again, I decided to run my PC and

an earlier TRS-80 directly off car batteries. The PC,

of course, draws too much current for unassisted car

batteries, so I ended up running off of battery charg-

ers with large capacitances (in the form of batteries)

attached.

Though I was hesitant at first, the system works

well; I can leave it on all day without problems, which

suggests that the power coming out is reasonably clean.

Of course this system gives me no protection from

either internal or external faults, but the savings are

sufficient, compared to the price of a new mother-

board, to get away without this protection. The actual

cost of the system was little more than the PC power

supply I didn’t buy. With an AT or larger machine, this

will no longer be true. I presume, though, that a well-

protected and -regulated battery supply is a costly item.

I am resigned to stopping work and disconnecting the

mains when there is lightning in the offing. Having

seen the state of the pair of MOVs which took the brunt

of another stroke of lightning, I need some convincing

that there is a really effective, sure obstacle that will

bar lightning from reaching into those flimsy chips. 1

have wired in a pair of devices I found at Radio Shack

labeled “field effect overvoltage protectors, DSAR 1

701 MA, part no. 270-9811, reaction time 1 microsec-

ond” but I have no idea what they are worth.

I have wired in an automatic voltage-sensing relay

which cuts off the chargers when the main battery

reaches full voltage an hour or two after turning the

system off.

This is not a letter that requires a reply, it just

thanks you for your inexhaustible supply of good ideas

and practical, viable projects. I just regret that I cannot

build more of them and that I do not live within

reasonable reach of the Circuit Cellar BBS.

John Negus--Bessas, France

Lightning and power outages are subjects near and

dear to our hearts here at CCINK, and we’re looking at

some future projects that might be effective weapons in

the war against blown-up equipment. We’d like to hear

from any of our readers who have come up with creative

solutions to power outages, line garbage, and lightning

strikes.

--Editor

\ ”

:’

,.,,

Sure, I’d like to subscribe to Circuit Cellar INK! I

have one request to make, though: Could you

occasionally expand your magazine by a page or two to

discuss a uniquely neat piece of hardware you’ve

included in a project but haven’t discussed in the

article?

A specific example might be the Shugart SA-300

single-sided 3.5inch disk drive installed in the SB180

“computer in a lunchbox” article in the October 1985

issue of BYTE. I think that this would be a great drive

for the experimenter to start out with. Unfortunately,

Shugart is no longer in business and, while Con-

sumertronics’ Disk Drive Tutorials give some clues for

adjusting drives, they don’t mention anything about the

shorting pins used to configure them.

Maybe you (or your readers) can help.

screen, however the American Radio Relay League

(ARRL) maintains a program exchange which may

have some programs that can help. The format of Epson

graphics files should not be hard to obtain, and using

the capabilities of Amiga BASIC it should not be

difficult to write a program to translate that file into

something that can be displayed on the screen.

I hope this gives him something to start with. Once

again, thanks for a great magazine.

Les Wenninger--Hubbards, Nova Scotia

We have a couple of ways to tell readers about “neat

hardware” used in a project but not fully described in

the article: Updates, such as the bottle rocket launcher

in the July/August issue and, beginning in this issue,

“From the Bench,” conducted by Jeff Bachiochi. Jeff

will be presenting practical advice on device selection

and a number of interesting “small” circuits in the

coming months. He’d like to hear from readers about

what they want to see him cover. Technical questions

should be addressed to Visible INK. We’ve turned your

question on the Shugart drive over to the Circuit Cellar

INK Research Staff.

Roy G. Clay III--New Orleans, LA

P.S. This letter is being prepared on an Amiga 2000.

Hope to have some projects for the Amiga soon.

Thanks for the information on weather FAX. We

share your hopes for some Amiga projects soon, and are

also working on having Macintosh (including Mac II),

Atari ST, and S-100 projects, as well as a continuing

stream of projects that are built around stand-alone

processors. Circuit Cellar INK is not biased for or

against any computer system or processor, but we can’t

run articles we can’t find. If anyone has put together

applications for a system that they haven’t yet seen in

the pages of INK, they should call or write Curtis

Franklin.

--Editor

First, I’m writing to congratulate you on a fine

magazine. The diversity and quality of articles is first-

rate. I’m glad that you have included articles about

trends in technology as well as projects and tutorials.

I especially enjoyed the article on RISC vs CISC. It was

the first article I had read that said something other than

RISC is be-all and end-all of the future in computer

design. I also really enjoy your editorials which have

put into print feelings that I have had for a long time.

Keep up the good work!

Second, I would like to reply to Mr. Dodge who

wrote about displaying weather facsimile data by

shortwave radio. Amateur radio operators have been

doing this for some time. There are several products

on the market which will receive FAX and RTTY and

send the data to a computer via RS-232. These are listed

below. All will receive both FAX and RTTY as well

as packet radio. The MFJ interface will translate FAX

data into an Epson-compatible graphics file that can be

dumped to any Epson-compatible printer. Any good

terminal program for the Amiga, such as Online!,

VTlOO, or Comml.4 can be used to control the

interface. I do not know of any commercial software

that would convert these files to display on the Amiga

--Editor

Weather FAX Interfaces:

MFJ-1278

MFJ Enterprises, Inc.

P.O. Box 494

Miss. State, MS 39762

(601) 323-5869

PK-232

Advanced Electronic Applications

P.O. Box C- 1260

Lynnwood, WA 98036

(206) 775-7373

HK-232

Heath Company

P.O. Box 1288

Benton Harbor, MI 49022

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