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Electronics For You
October 2014 Issue
Vol. 46 No. 10
DIY: Tips & Technique
How to Assemble Your Own 3D Printer
3D printing, getting popular for making usable objects, is the reverse of traditional machining where material is removed from a block by drilling, cutting, chiseling, etc for making objects
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Technology Focus
Best Buddies: The Web and Open Source Electronics
Here are a few interesting online locations that help you learn about, use, build and share open source electronics
| eStyle Buyers’ Guide
Wi-Fi Cameras: Focus, Shoot and Share
Smartphone cameras are capable of shooting and sharing photographs and videos instantly on Instagram and Facebook, but what about their image quality? If you do not want to compromise on quality, a Wi-Fi enabled camera may fulfil your need. It allows shooting and instant sharing of high-resolution images with highly powerful optical zooms, even in low-light situations
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DIY: Project
RFID Based Access Control Using Arduino
Radio frequency identification (RFID) is used in many applications. Here, we present an access control system based on EM-18 RFID reader module and Arduino UNO board
Download source code
| DIY: Project
Weather-Forecast Monitoring System
Weather forecasts play an important role in our day-to-day life
Download source code
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DIY: Circuit
3W USB Stereo Audio Amplifier
A vast range of audio-associated integrated circuits (ICs) are readily available for use by experimenters, professional design engineers and hobbyists
| DIY: Circuit
Matchbox Capacitor Tester
Checking of an electrolytic capacitor without an LCR meter is not free from hassles. Here is a simple solution for checking the serviceability of a capacitor
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DIY: Circuit
Crystal-Controlled AM Transmitter
This is a very simple and easy-to-make AM transmitter for the shortwave band. It can be used as a simple cordless microphone as well
| DIY: Circuit
Peripheral Driver with Fixed Regulators 78xx and 79xx
Drivers for peripheral devices should have over-current, over-voltage and over-heating protections
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DIY: Tips & Technique
USB MP3 Player
If you go to the market to buy an MP3 player with USB compatibility, it will cost around 500 rupees or more
| DIY: Software
Software to Help You Select Inverter for Your Home
Choosing the right ratings for the inverter and its battery to be used at home is not that easy
Download source code
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DIY: Software
Colour Segmentation Using MATLAB
This is a program for colour separation in an image
Download source code
| Futuristic
Self-Driving Cars: The Next Revolution
The revolution, when it comes, will be engendered by the advent of autonomous or self-driving vehicles. And the timing may be sooner than you think, according to a KPMG report
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Design Challenge
Designing Modular Smartphones: How Possible is it?
Making smartphones modular is a promising idea, but designing such hardware brings many challenges with it. This article focuses on design considerations and associated challenges in designing a modular smartphone
| Buyers’ Guide
How to Select Your Next Development Board
Selection becomes tough when one has to choose from a list of boards with almost similar capabilities. From designers to young hobbyists, everyone finds it difficult to identify the right board for them. We hope this article will serve as an aid for selecting your next development board
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Test & Measurement
Today’s Analysers are Modular, Flexible and Highly Capable
The latest analysers make speedy measurements, occupy lesser space, have multiple measurement capabilities and software-defined functionalities powered by FPGAs. These modular instruments are meeting performance and other capabilities of bench-top instruments
| Defence Electronics
Part 2 of 3: Fire Control Systems: The Electronics Behind Big Guns
The first part of this article explained what big guns actually do and how, and more importantly the crew protection systems. This part describes various fire control systems
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Career
Telecom Offers Mostly Developer and Installation Roles for Fresh Graduates
Network infrastructure, integration and IT are the three main roles available for fresh engineers in India’s telecom sector today. Let us explore the other aspects related to a career in this sector and find out if telecom could be the best bet to kick-start your career
| EFY Plus DVD
What’s In This Month’s DVD?
This month’s DVD brings to you a variety of software, starting with Sigasi design tools to the open source Chipmunk simulation and schematic tools. Also check the debugging tools like Thunderbench and H-Jtag along with a Spice circuit optimiser
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eStyle First Look!
.Low-Cost Android Tablet from Lenovo
.Gaming Laptop from MSI
.Videocon Announces 4K UHD LED Television
.Sony’s Smartphone Xperia C3 Dual Launched
.Wireless Shower Speaker from ENRG
.GizMo ByTes
| Embedded Design
From Sensors to Interfaces – Wireless Communication Has a Lot to Offer
The world of wireless communication has exploded in the last few years, making its way to the common man but becoming a genuine challenge for the designers. Let us discuss some new components and technologies that are now available for designing safe and secure communication devices
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Telecom Technology
An Introduction to Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy
Plesiochronous digital hierarchy is a digital multiplexing technique that offers bit rates starting with the basic multiplex rate of 2Mbps with further stages of 8, 34 and 140Mbps. It is used in telecom transmission networks to transport large quantities of data from one place to other place
| Industry Focus
Educational Products and Services Sector Needs Focus
The Indian education sector is growing rapidly as the Central as well as most state governments are going all out to educate their citizens. As late Nelson Mandela said,
“No country can actually develop unless its citizens are educated.” The focus of the current Central government on quality education and skill development would be energising the education sector further
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Interview
"The trend is moving towards solid-state illumination"
With LEDs and lasers becoming more efficient and environment-friendly, light sources are changing in digital light processing (DLP)-based products. Kent Novak, senior vice president & general manager, DLP Products, Texas Instruments spoke to Pankaj Vashisht of EFY about the advancement of DLP in non-display applications and new trends in DLP light sources
| Interview
"The deployment of smart meters is far from a one-size-fits-all undertaking"
Highly integrated SoCs are helping design energy meters with ease, but what are the design considerations and challenges for energy metering? And how can you select an SoC for designing energy meters? Andy Wang, senior business manager, Energy Solutions Business Group, Maxim Integrated talks to Pankaj Vashisht from EFY
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Interview
"To produce electronic assemblies without a known profile is just asking for trouble"
Mark Stansfield, director, SolderStar speaks to Abhishek Mutha from EFY about the importance of controlled thermal processes and lead-free manufacturing and throws light on necessity of temperature profiling for electronic assemblies, different kinds of profiling and their benefits, and the future of thermal profiling
| Useful Websites
Microcontroller Based Projects
Building microcontroller based projects has always been of great interest to engineers and hobbyists. This month we bring to you some websites that introduce you to microcontrollers and offer various project ideas
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Technology Focus
3D Printing, Community Meets and Budget-Friendly Tools Drive Open Electronics
Open hardware is leading us to the next industrial revolution where digital fabrication (read 3D printers) is allowing everyone with an idea to bring it to fruition. Community meets, demo sessions and low-cost electronics are also fuelling open source electronics. There have been some new initiatives and innovations to give the open community a boost
| Sensors
Part 2 of 2: Network Protocols and Smart Sensors: An Introduction to Wireless Sensor Networks
Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have seen explosive growth in recent years because of their independent sensing capabilities. The first part of his article gave basics of the technologies used in WSNs. This concluding part covers network protocols and types of sensors generally used
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Innovation
High-Speed SerDes: The Heart of IoT Products
This transceiver from Terminus Circuits is first of its kind, designed and implemented in India. It provides the high-performance data processing required for many of the Internet of Things applications
| Industry News
Manufacturing subsidy scheme may undergo revision
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agenda of ‘Make in India’ has inspired the country and it is attracting attention from across the globe
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EFY Plus DVD
Linux Porting and App Development is a Breeze
with JTAG Debuggers
Considering the complexity of today’s embedded systems, using a Linux-aware JTAG debugger vis-à-vis traditional agent based debugging can be more efficient and effective in reducing the time-to-market for Linux-based systems
| Technology News
NASA making tiny robots to explore other planets
An army of autonomous self-driving robots is being developed by NASA which would be equipped with webcams, Wi-Fi antennae and GPS to explore other planets in the future
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EFY Plus DVD
EDWinXP: An Integrated Electronics Design Suite
This Windows based software package integrates different tools to automate all stages of electronics product design cycle right from circuit schematic designing to PCB fabrication
| New Products
Field intensity meter
Model KM 828 field intensity meter introduced by KUSAM-MECO has LCD display and over-range indication
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EFY Plus DVD
A SPICE Circuit Optimiser (ASCO)
An open source optimiser for the existing SPICE simulators, ASCO has its codes available under the GNU GPL licence. Designed to address the problems related to electric circuits, ASCO is the result of interaction with experienced designers. Try out ASCO included in this month’s DVD, available with EFY Plus
| Next
Issue...
Wireless Communication Technologies (Zigbee, RF to 5G & beyond)
Security & Surveillance
Soldering / Desoldering Stations
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