Practical_Electronics-May_2019

Practical

Electronics Editorial

Editorial offi ces

Practical Electronics Tel 01273 777619

Electron Publishing Limited Mob 07973 518682

1 Buckingham Road Fax 01202 843233

Brighton Email [email protected]

East Sussex BN1 3RA Web http://www.epemag.com

Advertisement offi ces

Practical Electronics Adverts

1 Buckingham Road

Brighton

East Sussex BN1 3RA

Phone 01273 777619

Mob 07973 518682

Email [email protected]

Editor Matt Pulzer

General Manager Louisa Pulzer

Subscriptions Stewart Kearn

Online Editor Alan Winstanley

Publisher Matt Pulzer

Technical enquiries

We regret technical enquiries cannot be answered over the

telephone. We are unable to offer any advice on the use, purchase,

repair or modifi cation of commercial equipment or the incorporation

or modifi cation of designs published in the magazine. We cannot

provide data or answer queries on articles or projects that are

more than fi ve years old.

Questions about articles or projects should be sent to the editor

by email: [email protected]

Projects and circuits

All reasonable precautions are taken to ensure that the advice and

data given to readers is reliable. We cannot, however, guarantee

it and we cannot accept legal responsibility for it.

A number of projects and circuits published in Practical Electronics

employ voltages that can be lethal. You should not build, test,

modify or renovate any item of mains-powered equipment unless

you fully understand the safety aspects involved and you use an

RCD (GFCI) adaptor.

Component supplies

We do not supply electronic components or kits for building the

projects featured, these can be supplied by advertisers. We

advise readers to check that all parts are still available before

commencing any project in a back-dated issue.

Advertisements

Although the proprietors and staff of Practical Electronics take

reasonable precautions to protect the interests of readers by

ensuring as far as practicable that advertisements are bona fi de,

the magazine and its publishers cannot give any undertakings

in respect of statements or claims made by advertisers, whether

these advertisements are printed as part of the magazine, or in

inserts. The Publishers regret that under no circumstances will

the magazine accept liability for non-receipt of goods ordered, or

for late delivery, or for faults in manufacture.

Transmitters/bugs/telephone equipment

We advise readers that certain items of radio transmitting and

telephone equipment which may be advertised in our pages

cannot be legally used in the UK. Readers should check the law

before buying any transmitting or telephone equipment, as a fi ne,

confi scation of equipment and/or imprisonment can result from

illegal use or ownership. The laws vary from country to country;

readers should check local laws.

Phew!

Welcome to the second issue of Practical Electronics.

Renaming and redesigning a popular magazine is always

something to be undertaken carefully. On the one hand you don’t

want to alienate a loyal existing readership – but on the other, if

improvements are needed then there comes a point when you just

have to take a leap of faith, do your best, and ultimately... hope

for the best.

Waiting for PE’s fi rst sales fi gures from our distributor was a little

nerve wracking, but I’m pleased to say that it sold more copies

than April 2018, which is particularly reassuring because that was

last year’s best seller.

Also, we appreciate the positive messages of support that you have

sent in. It seems that for many of our long-term subscribers the

revival of the name Practical Electronics has brought back some

fond memories – thank you John E and Stephen A for taking the

time to write.

While positive feedback is of course welcome, we also need

constructive ‘negative’ feedback. Any observations, tips or requests

help us give you a better magazine. Do write in.

So, from all of us here at Practical Electronics, very many thanks

for maintaining your faith in the magazine.

Packed issue

What do we have for you this month? – a lot of goodies. There

are four standalone projects to keep you busy – I particularly

recommend the USB Port Protector if you are in the habit of

powering projects from your computer. As Nicholas Vinen, the

project’s author puts it, ‘Don’t let one small “oops” fry your PC!’.

Wise words, and not ones you want to learn after the event.

Phil Boyce’s Make it with Micromite microcontroller series is

gently accelerating to the point where you can start to read inputs

and generate outputs. For those of you – especially beginners –

who have not been following the series, I strongly recommend

you reconsider. It is a fabulous route to very-low-cost, easy-to-

implement and hugely satisfying intelligent electronic control.

For those of you who want truly tiny control systems then Mike

Hibbett’s latest PIC n’ Mix is just what you’ve been waiting for – a

new series on the PIC10F202 microcontroller.

Next up, we have Paul Cooper’s MIDI Ultimate Synthesiser. Since

I’m not a musician, I must confess that I was really only dimly

aware of what a truly professional-level analogue synthesiser could

achieve. That all changed when Paul sent me a YouTube link (see

article) demonstrating the MIDI Ultimate. It’s impressive, and I

hope you’ll watch the video and consider building your own.

There’s more, much more... but I’m out of space, so I’ll hand over

to you to enjoy this second issue of Practical Electronics.

Matt Pulzer

Publisher

Volume 48. No. 5

May 2019

ISSN 0262 3617