Silicon Chip – April 2019

siliconchip.com.au Australia’s electronics magazine April 2019 1

Vol.32, No.4; April 2019

Contents

http://www.siliconchip.com.au

SILICON

CHIP

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Features & Reviews

14 Big Brother may be IS watching you: Facial Recognition!

If you’ve ever had the feeling that you’re being watched, you are! From social

media apps to law enforcement, from banks to airports, facial recognition is used

to identify YOU and plot wherever you go – by Dr David Maddison

32 Introducing the iCEstick: an easy way to program FPGAs

This compact PCB which plugs into your computer’s USB port takes the mystery

out of programming field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). In fact, we regard

the iCEstick and its software as “beginner friendly” – by Tim Blythman

70 Review: Altium Designer 19

The latest version of this world-wide (Aussie!) PCB design software (and the one

we use here at SILICON CHIP) is more evolutionary than revolutionary but it has

some great new features to make designers’ lives much easier – by Tim Blythman

Constructional Projects

22 Flip-dot Message Display

You’ve seen them on buses, in airports, etc – those mechanical message boards

with huge, clear letters. Now you can make your own with this project – there’s

virtually no limit to the length of the message you can make – by Tim Blythman

38 Ultra low noise remote controlled stereo preamp – Part 2

We continue the description – and importantly, construction – of our new ultra low

noise and distortion stereo preamplifier. It works with just about any power amp

and offers infrared remote control and bass/treble adjustments – by John Clarke

58 iCEstick VGA Terminal

Want a project to have that “early PC” look? We take the iCEstick FPGA USB stick

and IceStudio software to make a modern monitor look like it’s displaying old-style

VGA text – by Tim Blythman

80 Arduino Seismograph revisited – improving sensitivity

A reader has suggested adding a “geophone” to further improve the sensitivity

of our Arduino-based Seismograph (April 2018). We tried it – and it works!

Construction is so simple it can fit on a stripboard – by Tim Blythman

Your Favourite Columns

53 Serviceman’s Log

A laptop, spilled tea and a crack – by Dave Thompson

76 Circuit Notebook

(1) Simple zener diode tester fits inside a DMM

(2) Automatic sleep timer for TVs

84 Vintage Radio

Healing 404B Aussie compact – by Ian Batty

Everything Else!

2 Editorial Viewpoint

4 Mailbag – Your Feedback

88 SILICON CHIP ONLINE SHOP

90 Product Showcase

91 Ask SILICON CHIP

95 Market Centre

96 Advertising Index

96 Notes and Errata

Like it or not, you’re now being

watched and identified most of the

time. Facial recognition is now said

to be able to ID anyone – even in a

crowd! – Page 14

You can build a flip-dot

display: we make it

easy for you with the

coils etched on the

PCB! – Page 22

iCEstick: the easy way to program

FPGAs, even for beginners.

• Page 32

And we use

the iCEstick to produce VGA

graphics in this “retro” project –

Page 58

A new year brings a new Altium

Designer – the world’s most wide-

ly used PCB software. Here’s what

version 19 offers – Page 70

19

We conclude our

magnificent new ultra

low noise remote

controlled stereo

preamplifier; here’s how to build it!

• Page 38