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Bong Bernabe

The document is the February 2011 issue of Elektor magazine. It includes articles on various electronics projects including a light alarm clock that simulates a sunrise, an ultimatic CW keyer for Morse code operators, a telephone to VoIP adapter, and a contactless thermometer. It also includes news briefs on a new line of power supplies that meet energy efficiency standards and a new LED backlighting platform from Semtech.

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ion 61002 [Microcontrollers & Embedded • Analogue • Audio• Digital • Test & Measurement] s nic a t agemu February 2011 AUS$ 14.50 - NZ$ 17.50 - SAR 102.95 £ 4.80 5p m 2 co ✚ Telephone-to-VoIP Adapter on www.elektor.co www.elektor.com www.elektor.com w.el TimeClick Programmable Camera Controller Geolocalization without GPS Where am I? Where am I headed? Light Alarm Clock Programmed Sunrise ✚ Ultimatic CW Keyer For high-speed telegraphy operators R08 ✚ Contactless Thermometer Are you running an infrared temperature?
61002 LPC11C2x CAN MCU Series Industry’s first integrated CAN microcontroller and transceiver with CANOpen® Drivers. Features high-speed CAN transceiver and 32-bit LPC1100 MCU Higher code density powered by Cortex-M0 Superior performance than 8/16-bit microcontrollers Enable development of a wide range of industrial networking applications www.nxp.com/microcontrollers
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61002 Communicate Surveys and feedback indicate that Elektor readers expect to find a large variety of articles, viewpoints and tech- nical approaches in the magazine. For this February 2011 edition we have done our utmost to pack the pages ahead of you with a wide variety of topics with a slight accent on communication, our announced theme of the month. Let’s see what’s communicated on communication. A telegram-style explanation is presented on the famous OSI layer model, which is 6 Colophon widely used in computers and networks. Who’s who at Elektor magazine. There’s also a handy VoIP adapter that 8 News & New Products enables the good old analogue telephone A monthly roundup of all the latest in set gathering dust in the cupboard to electronics land. be used for state of the art VoIP com- munication. The adapter features a USB 14 OSI from ISO port for connecting to the computer and “Seven Bridges You Shall Cross” before is designed to work under Linux. If you you can eat your OSI Cake and have it the like to mess around with old computer ISO way. gear you’re sure to have fun with the article on a DIY Texting (SMS) gateway 16 Reradiating GPS Antenna based on a scrap PC and a cellphone your To keep you headed in the right direction, spouse or children have classified as ‘RIP’ here’s a quick and cheap method to or ‘unfashionable’. There’s plenty of ICT overcome poor GPS signal levels in a car. scrap material around, and it’s often free for collection. Communication at the 18 Gentle Awakenings hands-and-feet level is also covered in This circuit has advanced features geared this edition with the AlphaLED (Alpha- to waking you up ‘sunrise style’. betLED) letter shaker, a small board that ‘writes’ messages in the air if you wave it. 24 Ultimatic CW Keyer There are a few messages in memory, but Morse is not dead and this project is for you can also create your own words or high speed telegraphers having mastered text by on the fly programming. the Ultimatic ‘squeeze’ keying method in Finally we have a circuit that bridges combination with a CW paddle. 100+ years effortlessly, happily combin- ing Morse (the pundits say CW) with PIC 32 Educational Expansion Board microcontroller technology. The Ulti- Flexible, multi-talented and versatile are matic keyer is for experienced CW fans, some descriptions that fit this expansion maintaining the correct time relations board for our popular ATM18 controller. between dots, dashes, words and lines, besides doing a lot more. The project 38 Geolocalization without GPS was designed to support the famous WiFi spots and triangulation methods can Ultimatic mode, a system that reduces be used advantageously to pinpoint your hand movement on part of the telegraph position with remarkable accuracy. operator and so allows amazing speeds of up to 100 wpm to be achieved. 43 E-Labs Inside: And more ... just browse this edition Here comes the bus (2) because there are many more interest- The guys at Elektor labs delve deeper into ing articles I am unable to communicate their plans to develop a proprietary bus. at the risk of exceeding the 360 word limit the page layout colleagues have 45 E-Labs inside: Design tips communicated over coffee and a piece for instrumentation amplifiers of OSI cake (page 14). Input noise and ADC resolution are Jan Buiting, Editor important considerations in very sensitive measurement systems. 4 02-2011 elektor
61002 Volume 37 CONTENTS February 2011 no. 410 18 Gentle Awakenings The light alarm clock described here is built around a microcontroller and can switch and dim an existing lamp (or lamps) fitted with an incandescent bulb (normal or halogen). It has several advanced features and its purpose is to wake 48 Contactless Thermometer This thermometer employs an infrared you up without a startle. sensor to read an object’s temperature without touching it. 53 TimeClick A controller for sensor, sound or time driven photography at an advanced level. 58 MIAC Controlled 24 Ultimatic CW Keyer Underfloor Heating System A stunning application of Elektor’s The circuit discussed in this article was developed specially for the squeeze Flowcode powered super PLC. paddle CW key but works great with single lever keys too. It looks after a lot of 60 Linux’ed time related issues such as the pauses between dots and words, fully support- Telephone-to-VoIP Interface ing the renowned Ultimatic mode. Connect your vintage telephone set to the world of VoIP and start phoning with no fears of a massive Telco bill. 65 AphaLED Shaker This little gadget when shaken prominently shows a letter in the air. 53 TimeClick 68 How to Get your Own USB ID Less than one LSB of all people designing TimeClick controls a digital SLR camera without human intervention using a stuff to work on USB actually manage to wired connection. It can take photographs at fixed or random time intervals or get their own ID in chips. in response to sensor input, which makes it suitable for various purposes from 70 TEXT Me! From 1, PC junkyard HDR photography to sound-triggered pictures. An old PC and a surplus cellphone together make your very own text messaging system. 75 Hexadoku Our monthly puzzle with an electronics touch. 60 Linux’ed 76 Retronics: Slide Rules & Telephone-to-VoIP Interface The Electronic Engineer Regular feature on electronics ‘odd & Start phoning with no fears of a massive Telco bill. The powerhouse board de- ancient’. Series Editor: Jan Buiting scribed here works under Linux using the renowned Asterisk IP PBX software, 84 Coming Attractions and at a stroke enables you to use your home telephone set (dare we say ‘vin- Next month in Elektor magazine. tage’) to connect to the VoIP world. elektor 02-2011 5
61002 Elektor International Media provides a multimedia and interactive platform for everyone interested in electronics. From professionals passionate about their work to enthusiasts with professional ambitions. From beginner to diehard, from student to lecturer. Information, education, inspiration and entertainment. Analogue and digital; practical and theoretical; software and hardware. ANALOGUE • DIGITAL MICROCONTROLLERS & EMBEDDED AUDIO • TEST & MEASUREMENT Volume 37, Number 410, February 2011 ISSN 1757-0875 Elektor is also published in French, Spanish, American Editorial secretariat: English, German and Dutch. Together with franchised Hedwig Hennekens (secretariaat@elektor.nl) Elektor aims at inspiring people to master electronics at any editions the magazine is on circulation in more than 50 personal level by presenting construction projects and spotting countries. Graphic design / DTP: Giel Dols, Mart Schroijen developments in electronics and information technology. International Editor: Managing Director / Publisher: Paul Snakkers Wisse Hettinga (w.hettinga@elektor.nl) Publishers: Elektor International Media, Regus Brentford, Marketing: Carlo van Nistelrooy 1000 Great West Road, Brentford TW8 9HH, England. Editor: Jan Buiting (editor@elektor.com) Tel. (+44) 208 261 4509, fax: (+44) 208 261 4447 www.elektor.com International editorial staff: Harry Baggen, Thijs Beckers, Subscriptions: Elektor International Media, Eduardo Corral, Ernst Krempelsauer, Jens Nickel, Clemens Valens. Regus Brentford, 1000 Great West Road, Brentford TW8 The magazine is available from newsagents, bookshops and 9HH, England. electronics retail outlets, or on subscription. Design staff: Christian Vossen (Head), Tel. (+44) 208 261 4509, fax: (+44) 208 261 4447 Elektor is published 11 times a year with a double issue for July & August. Ton Giesberts, Luc Lemmens, Jan Visser. Internet: www.elektor.com/subs 6 02-2011 elektor
61002 Elektor PCB Prototyper A professional PCB router E W! with optional extensions! N This compact, professional PCB router can produce complete PCBs quickly and very accurately. This makes the PCB Prototyper an ideal tool for independent developers, electronics labs and educational institutions that need to produce prototype circuits quickly. Specifications • Dimensions: 440 x 350 x 350 mm (W x D x H) The PCB Prototyper puts an end to waiting for boards from • Workspace: 220 x 150 x 40 mm (X x Y x Z) • Weight: approx. 35 kg (78 lbs) a PCB fabricator – you can make your own PCB the same • Supply voltage: 110–240 V AC, 50/60 Hz • Integrated high-speed spindle motor; day and get on with the job. In addition, the PCB Proto- maximum 40,000 rpm (adjustable) typer is able to do much more than just making PCBs. • Integrated dust extraction (vacuum system not included) A variety of extension options are available for other • USB port for connection to PC • Includes user-friendly Windows-based tasks, and a range of accessories is already available. software with integrated PCB software module Ordering The complete machine (including software) is priced at € 3,500 / £3,100 / US $4,900 plus VAT. The shipping charges for UK delivery are £70. Customers in other countries, please enquire at sales@elektor.com. Further information and ordering at www.elektor.com/pcbprototyper Email: subscriptions@elektor.com Email: t.vanhoesel@elektor.com system of any nature. Patent protection may exist in respect of Rates and terms are given on the Subscription Order Form. Internet: www.elektor.com circuits, devices, components etc. described in this magazine. Advertising rates and terms available on request. The Publisher does not accept responsibility for failing to identify Head Office: Elektor International Media b.v. such patent(s) or other protection. The submission of designs or P.O. Box 11 NL-6114-ZG Susteren The Netherlands Copyright Notice articles implies permission to the Publisher to alter the text and Telephone: (+31) 46 4389444, Fax: (+31) 46 4370161 The circuits described in this magazine are for domestic use design, and to use the contents in other Elektor International only. All drawings, photographs, printed circuit board layouts, Media publications and activities. The Publisher cannot guaran- Distribution: programmed integrated circuits, disks, CD-ROMs, software tee to return any material submitted to them. Seymour, 2 East Poultry Street, London EC1A, England carriers and article texts published in our books and magazines Telephone:+44 207 429 4073 (other than third-party advertisements) are copyright Elektor International Media b.v. and may not be reproduced or transmit- Disclaimer UK Advertising: ted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, scan- Prices and descriptions of publication-related items subject to Elektor International Media b.v. ning an recording, in whole or in part without prior written per- change. Errors and omissions excluded. P.O. Box 11 NL-6114-ZG Susteren The Netherlands mission from the Publisher. Such written permission must also be Telephone: (+31) 46 4389444, Fax: (+31) 46 4370161 obtained before any part of this publication is stored in a retrieval © Elektor International Media b.v. 2010 Printed in the Netherlands elektor 02-2011 7 ELEK UK1101 PCB Protoype_p7.inddSec1:7 Sec1:7 30-11-2010 13:38:12
61002 NEWS & NEW PRODUCTS External 48 & 60 watt the changing energy efficiency legisla- power supply series tion, XP Power provides a number of useful resources and information on their web site. meets latest energy In addition, XP Power applications and sup- standards port staff can assist customers in under- standing the various ‘green’ initiatives. XP Power recently announced the launch of The AFM series is available from Farnell or the highly efficient single output AFM series direct from XP Power. The units have a 3 of 48 & 60 watt external AC-DC power sup- year warranty. plies designed for a wide range of IT and www.xppower.com (100820-IX) medical equipment. The ranges offer out- put voltages of 12, 15, 18 and 24 VDC. Offering a typical efficiency of up to 88%, these highly efficient units meet the lat- Smart current sink LED est stringent energy efficiency standards such as Energy Star Level V, EISA2007 and backlighting platform CEC2008 in the United States and the ErP Semtech Corp. recently announced the Directive for Europe. These standards define industry’s first smart current sink LED back- lighting platform with on-chip digital light- ing effects for high-end handheld displays. This new platform incorporates Semtech’s tem cost, with the added benefits of elimi- patent-pending, smart Automatic Drop- nating any switching noise and extending out Prevention (ADP) technology to enable operating time. a new-generation of high-quality current The SC667 and SC668 are the first current sink drivers that can replace boost convert- sinks to incorporate ADP technology. These ers and charge pumps in high-end hand- devices also integrate a number of functions helds, while providing high-quality display to enable high-end features on portables, backlighting. The new SC667 and SC668 including an ambient light sensing/control current sinks with ADP technology reduce circuit that sets backlight brightness based the total parts count and extend battery on surrounding lighting conditions. A PWM life compared to boost converters or charge dimming interface that incorporates a dig- pumps, and offer far superior illumination ital low-pass filter is also included, provid- quality compared to conventional current ing the capability to perform content-adap- sink drivers. Additionally, on-chip digital tive brightness control (versus ‘always-on’ lighting effects provide the flexibility to illumination). incorporate fade, breathe and blink effects The SC668 provides eight current sinks, without changing the firmware. while the SC667 features seven current the average energy efficiency and the max- White LEDs used in backlighting applica- sinks plus an interrupt request indicator sig- imum no load power consumption. The tions typically have a forward voltage up to nal to tell the host processor when an ambi- AFM45 has a no load power consumption 3.6 V. When the battery voltage declines in ent light threshold has been crossed. Both of less than 0.3 W, and the AFM60 less than portable devices, the supply voltage must devices include an on-chip digital lighting- 0.5 W. be boosted to ensure the white LEDs have effects engine to control LED fade-in/fade- In addition, the AFM series comply with the sufficient voltage to illuminate the display. out, breathe, blink, auto-dim full, and auto- internationally recognized safety approval Charge pump or inductive boost converter dim partial; an I2C interface to program and standards for IT and commercial equip- devices have typically been used to provide control the LEDs; and four programmable, ment IEC60950-1 / UL60950-1 / EN60950- this voltage boost function. In an effort to 200 mA low-noise LDO regulators to man- 1. They also comply with the IEC60601-1 maintain constant output power, these cir- age the power for multiple embedded / UL60601-1 / EN60601-1 medical safety cuits increase current draw as the battery peripherals. standards. voltage declines, shortening battery life. Key Features of the SC667 and SC668 The units offer multiple input cable inter- Improvements in white LEDs have resulted include face options allowing designers to specify in forward voltages as low as 3.0 V, reduc- • Patent-pending Automatic Dropout Pro- either IEC320-C14, -C6 or -C8 connectors. ing the threshold at which conventional tection (ADP) technology The -C8 option provides a Class II grounding LED drivers need to boost the battery volt- • On-chip digital lighting effects (fade, method. An optional cable restraining clip age. Because of this, LED backlight driv- breathe, blink) without changing is also available. ers increasingly are operating in a non- firmware XP Power is an Energy Star partner and boost mode, making current sink drivers • Ambient light sensing option can auto- has an approved certification facility that an attractive alternative. Current sink driv- matically adjust backlight brightness allows in-house testing for compliance to ers eliminate the capacitors and inductor • Low parts-count: only one low-voltage the energy efficiency standards. associated with the boost circuitry, reduc- capacitor needed, no inductor required To help designers keep up to date with ing component count, board size and sys- • I2C programming interface (fast and 8 01-2011 elektor
61002 standard modes) Frequency stabilities can be specified at • ±0.5% (typ.) LED current matching, ±1.5% either ±10 ppm over an operating tempera- (typ.) LED current accuracy ture range of 0 to +70 degrees C or ±15 ppm • Four low-noise LDO regulators over –40 to +85 degrees C. • Ultra-small, low-profile 20-pad MLPQ MEMS technology is based upon the pro- package with exposed thermal pad: 3 x cess techniques of CMOS (Complemen- 3 x 0.6 mm tary Metal Oxide Silicon) and as such can be produced on standard production lines The SC667 and SC668 are available imme- in foundries that are more used to produc- diately in production quantities. ing standard or custom integrated circuits. www.semtech.com (100820-X) This of course lends itself to the ability of producing product in vast quantities at an tor is available in an exceptionally wide fre- economic rate. quency range from 1MHz up to 800MHz. The IQMS-900 range is eminently suitable MEMS oscillator covers The new model can be factory programmed for the incorporation into infrastructure with either a LVDS (low voltage differential equipment where it will provide very accu- 1 MHz to 800 MHz source) or LVPECL (low voltage positive rate timing processes coupled with the abil- frequency range emitter coupled logic) output. ity to drive the very latest high-speed pro- The plastic packaged IQMS-900 series is cessors that will enable the transfer of high IQD has announced immediate availability available in two sizes: either a 7 x 5mm or data rates — the fast rise and fall times con- of a newly developed high frequency MEMS the increasingly popular 5 x 3.2mm. Due to tribute to this. Typical applications include Oscillator on the opening day of Electron- its MEMS technology design, phase jitter is Fibre Channel, Ethernet 10G, HDMI, SATA/ ica 2010. The new IQMS-900 series MEMS low being typically 0.7 ps at 200 MHz. Two SAS & USB3. (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) oscilla- supply voltages are available, 3.3 V & 2.5 V. www.iqdfrequencyproducts.com (100820-XI) Advertisement elektor 01-2011 9
61002 NEWS & NEW PRODUCTS Factory modification medical instrumentation. means that it can be installed in the most services for enclosure Card mounting brackets, conductive and compact of applications. non-conductive fixings, handles, gaskets TDK-Lambda’s ZPSA100 series is approved panels and sealing strips can all be supplied to to national and international safety approv- Standard front panels for enclosures and meet specific project requirements. als, including IEC/EN/UL/CSA60950-1 (edi- sub racks, typically conforming to sizes www.verotl.com (100820-XII) tion 2) meets conducted and radiated EMC specified in international standards, are requirements of EN55022-B and FCC Class produced by many companies, giving B (without additional filtering or compo- users ready availability and a wide choice nents) and meets EN61000-4 immunity of suppliers. All such panels have one thing 100-watt low profile specifications for greater reliability. All mod- in common; they will usually need to be els in the ZPSA100 series carry the CE mark, modified to suit the application before PCB-mountable power according to the LV Directive, and come they can be used. Vero Technologies offer supplies with a two-year warranty. a rapid turn-round factory customisation www.uk.tdk-lambda.com/zpsa (100820-XIII) service for its own manufactured panels, a Power supply expert T D K- L a m b d a France has upped the output power of its ZPSA series of compact PCB-mountable AC-DC power supplies with the introduc- WLCSP 2.4 GHz chips tion of a 100 watt model. The new single- output ZPSA100 accepts a wide input volt- target space-constrained age range, has a very low profile (26.6mm) sports, fitness, and health and industry standard footprint (127 x 76.2 mm), making it an ideal choice for applications applications such as LED signage and light- Ultra low power (ULP) RF specialist Nordic ing, point-of-sale equipment, datacom, Semiconductor ASA (OSE: NOD) recently video/audio routers and test & measure- announced that it is to expand its exist- ment equipment. ing 2.4 GHz RF and ANT™ product line- These 100-Watt supplies are available with ups in Q1 2011 with a new set of ultra the most popular single output voltages miniaturized, wafer-level chip scale pack- from 5V to 48Vdc. Offering a typical effi- age (WLCSP) options designed to meet ciency of up to 90%, these models are well- the highly space-constrained needs of suited for operation in both convection or both existing and emerging sports, fitness customer air cooled environments from and health applications such as wireless 0°C up to 70°C, with appropriate derating. watches, bike computers, sensors, hearing A green LED is provided as an indicator that aids and other devices designed to be worn the power supply is on, and other standard features include over voltage and short-cir- cuit protection. These supplies are offered modification service for panels from other in an open-board configuration with Molex suppliers and bespoke panel fabrication to input/output connectors. customer drawings with a maximum size of Accepting a wide input voltage range of 480 x 400 mm. 90-264 VAC (47–440 Hz) or 120–370 VDC, Panels can be punched, drilled, multi-colour the ZPSA100 series is ready for use globally screen-printed, engraved, engraved with a with no further configuration or input selec- coloured infill, fitted with polyester over- tion. Its industry standard footprint makes lays, rebated to accept a flush-fitting mem- it an ideal choice as a drop-in replacement brane keypad and fitted with EMC gaskets. for existing supplies, while its low profile Conductive and non-conductive finishes, to both sides or just to the rear can be pro- vided or the panels can be painted. Cutouts on or near the body. can be within 1mm from the panel edge Sampling in Q1 2011 and available for vol- without distortion by using laser machin- ume orders in Q2 2011 will be the nRF24AP- ing or extend through the edge by using 2WLCSP (1- and 8-channel) and nRF24LE1 three-dimensional CNC machining, ena- WLCSP (Flash or OTP) options. bling rebates and apertures to be created. The new 1- and 8-channel nRF24AP2 WLCSP Both plastic and metal panels can be modi- package options will represent the world’s fied; plastic panels and enclosures can be small single chip ANT solutions (nRF24AP2- moulded in custom colours. Specialist fin- 1CHC32 and nRF24AP2-8CHC32) featuring ishes can be applied to give EMC/RFI pro- 400μm pitch (regular array) 32-ball BGAs tection or anti-bacterial capability for use in with a thickness of 0.5 mm and a flat foot- 10 01-2011 elektor
61002 NEWS & NEW PRODUCTS print area of just 2.6 x 2.7mm (7 mm2) that of workers with constant exposure. An moving through the doorway, ADAM will is over 5x smaller than the footprints of enhanced audio system that could gener- automatically revert to playing the original competing 6 x 6 mm (36 mm2) packaged ate a variety of sounds and automatically song. products. associate these sounds with vehicle position ADAM RAP also has the ability to react to The new nRF24LE1 WLCSP option (Flash or or function would dramatically improve the inputs. As another example, if a worker (or OTP) will again be a 400μm (regular array) effectiveness of the warning system. object) is fully obstructing the doorway and 32-ball pitch BGA measuring 2.7 x 2.7 RMT Robotics developed the ADAM sound ADAM is unable to reconcile an alternative (7.3 mm2) in footprint area for the Flash ver- application to play ‘text to speech’ mes- path, ADAM will politely enunciate, “Please sion and 2.6 x 2.7 (7 mm2) for the OTP ver- sages, sound bites or musical interludes move, I cannot get around you.” As another sion. Both devices are 0.5 mm in thickness. through its mobile robot that can be either example, if the emergency stop button is www.nordicsemi.no (100926-I) actively or passively triggered in reaction pressed, ADAM will state, “My emergency to a variety of operational conditions and stop has been pressed,” or if the Enter Desti- system inputs. Through the ADAM Com- nation button is pressed on the vehicle key- mander mapping software, regions on pad, ADAM will state, “Thank you, see you RAP for ADAM mobile later” before proceeding on its mission. “Now that ADAM can “speak” and interact robot with workers, there is an improved harmo- RMT Robotics ® a Cimcorp Oy company, nization between the work force and the launches ADAM RAP (Reactive Audio Play- robots that serve them,” says Torrens. “The back). The programmable sound system, fact that ADAM can also entertain while designed exclusively for the RMT Robotics enhancing safety and efficiency in the pro- ADAM (Autonomous Delivery and Manip- cess is an added bonus.” ulation) mobile robot, includes interac- www.rmtrobotics.com (100926-II) tive voice messages and a mobile “vehicle in motion” jukebox for every mood and season. “In developing the ADAM RAP module, we Contactless sensing wanted to create a new ‘vehicle in motion’ function that not only improves safety but for 360° navigation leverages the power of the ADAM plat- in human-machine form to enhance the interactive experience between humans and the mobile robots interfaces that they work with every day,” said Bill Tor- austriamicrosystems has announced the rens, Director of Sales & Marketing for RMT the facility map can be embedded with AS5013, a contactless magnetic encoder Robotics. commands to automatically load specific IC that monitors the displacement of a AGVs have a standard beeper-based ‘vehicle tunes or prompt a series of voice mes- magnet incorporated in a knob relative in motion’ alert system which is mandated sages. For example, ADAM may play a song to its centre position and provides x and by most international safety standards. In in the aisle ways and then switch to a text y position information via an I²C interface. most operations however, noise prolifera- to speech-based message saying, “Excuse The AS5013 Hall-sensor IC is used in the tion combined with the monotonous beep me I am coming through” as it approaches EasyPoint(TM) module, which consists of a of vehicles tends to diminish the alertness the region of a doorway. After successfully mechanical stack incorporating a naviga- Advertisement elektor 01-2011 11
61002 NEWS & NEW PRODUCTS iPad app for Engineers gineers Apple brought a whole new format to the world of personal com- puting when they intro- duced the iPad. The handy tablet computer can be taken anywhere and the interactive touch screen makes it dead easy y to use. Add to that the e convenience of the thou- - sands of downloadable e software apps available e to solve real-world prob- b- lems the iPad can be with- h- bridge), high and low pass filters (R/C, R/L and L/C) and an ool. out doubt a very useful tool. transistor circuits (with base resistor values and voltage divider b Elektor have added another to the firmament of apps with their calculations). The ubiquitous NE555 is also included as a basic ‘Elektor Electronic Toolbox’. This one should be indispensable to circuit building block as are all the characteristics of the differ- engineers and hobbyists alike. It comprises 28 applications, any ent colour LEDs. one of which can be selected from the opening screen. The electronic toolbox not only provides assistance in component The app contains a data bank of over 45,000 electronic compo- selection but also supports some engineering design activities. nents, including bipolar transistors, FETs, triacs, thyristors, diodes For example circuits often require a regulated DC linear power and ICs. A component can be selected from the lists in different supply and this app has all the tools necessary to make the job categories on the left hand side of the display. As usual for iPad a cinch. you can drag your finger to scroll through the list and select a Other useful tools include a virtual resistor colour-code clock, component by tapping the screen whereupon the pin-outs and units of measurement converter, circuit diagram symbol data important electrical characteristics appear on the right side of the bank plus much more. display. All data is contained in the app so an internet connection The Elektor Electronic Toolbox can be downloaded from the Apple is not necessary. Also included is a special data bank containing iTunes Store for just $4.99. Go to the apps web page for more pin assignments of the majority of connectors used in the fields information. of audio, video, computer and telephone engineering. To add to that an interactive component calculator is included UK & European readers: http://apps.elektor.com/Toolbox/?c=en&d=3&l=en which simplifies the design of resistive circuits (series, parallel, US & Canada readers: http://apps.elektor.com/Toolbox/?c=us&d=3&l=en tion knob, a magnet and the AS5013 mag- coordinate and motion detection engine, face to the host processor. netic encoder IC. Its simple construction and a smart power management control- The HMI device also provides two interrupt and contactless sensing technology give ler. The XY coordinate registers and mag- modes (motion detect, data ready) and two the module very high reliability and operating modes: idle mode, with is designed for any kind of 360° navi- less than 3 μA current consumption, gation input device. and low-power mode, with selecta- The AS5013 is a complete Hall-sensor ble readout rate. The low-power IC for human-machine interface (HMI) AS5013 operates over a power sup- applications requiring low power. This ply range of 2.7 to 3.6 V, and down to simplifies software integration chal- 1.7 V peripheral supply voltage. lenges for joystick navigation in prod- Specified over an operating temper- ucts such as cell phones and other ature of –20 to +80°C, the AS5013 handheld devices, e.g. MP3 players, Hall-sensor IC operates from a 3.3 V PDAs, GPS receivers, Digital Still Cam- power supply and is offered in a eras, gaming consoles, and remote 16-pin 4 x 4 x 0.55 mm QFN package. controls. The AS5013 single-chip IC The EasyPoint(TM) module is available includes user-selectable power-sav- as small as 8 x 8 x 1.5 mm. ing modes, 5 integrated Hall sensing elements for detecting up to ±2 mm www.austriamicrosystems.com/ lateral displacement, a high-resolution netic field information for each Hall-sensor AS5013/Hall-sensor-IC analogue-to-digital converter (ADC), an XY element are transmitted over the I²C inter- (100926-VI) 12 01-2011 elektor
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61002 COMPUTERS OSI from ISO Seven layers is all it takes As with any structured approach to such would be concerned with details of the This gives rise to a functional hierarchy of a problem it would be best to identify and physical transfer of bits over the medium the program structure which Elektor edito- divide the job into manageable tasks. Pro- while other higher level tasks would deal rial team have chosen to illustrate using this cesses to deal with error control and data with the interface to the application soft- seven-layered cake. packet addressing for example can be eas- ware. In between the data would pass Now we come to the International Organi- ily defined. Some of the lower level tasks through a series of intermediate processes. zation for Standardization (ISO) which as 1 Physical Radio, optical or cabled, it doesn’t matter which medium you edium y use, this layer defines how a digital 0 and 1 is represented in ented munic the media so that transmitter and receiver can communicate with one another. 2 Data link This layer is responsible for detecting corruption of the trans- ion mitted message. The interference may come from an external source or from more than one transmitter talking at the sam t same es d time on the network (data collision). Techniques such as data packetisation, message headers, checksums and CRC algo- rithms all help here. 3 Network This layer ensures that each packet arrives at the correct re- he ceiver. In larger networks there may be a hierarchy of networ y network nodes relaying the data packets. Similar to how a postal ad- dress and code uniquely identifies a delivery address, the des- e s tination address is comprised of several fields e.g. a series of characters or character sequence. 14 02-2011 elektor
61002 COMPUTERS When computers communicate it’s important that messages are exchanged reliably, efficiently and securely (to protect against eavesdropping). To build such a complex communication protocol from scratch represents more than a weekend’s work for sure. usual has a thing or two to say about techni- faces are strictly adhered to (i.e. the func- building blocks which can simply be linked cal standards. At the beginning of the 1980s tion of each layer and the data between the to fulfil a particular communication require- they released the OSI layered model (Open layers) it is possible to substitute a layer from ment. A similar model called TCP/IP uses Systems Interconnection Model) which sub- one implementation of the standard model fewer layers and is responsible for data trans- divides such a communication system into to another without problem. This promotes fers most notably over the internet. seven distinct ‘layers’. When all the inter- the concept of interchangeable software (100781) 4 5 Transport Session This layer checks that all the packets have arrived correctly. d This layer ensures that a ‘discussion’ between the transmitter Packets can be dropped when net nodes are overloaded. A verloaded. and receiver can be successfully concluded, even if the ses- ven tected. resend request can be issued if an error is detected. The basic sion is interrupted. When interruption occurs (for whatever n requirement is that communication occurs in both directions. reason) it ensures that the exchange does not need to start ion Protocols such as TCP build a logical connection between the from the beginning again. transmitter and receiver. Presentation 6 This layer deals with the details of formatting and encrypting data for transmission over the network. g 7 Application This layer forms the interface between the user software and re ansfer, the network providing application facilities for file transfer, s email and other network services. Protocols such as HTTP and a fer emai SMTP, used by the World Wide Web (e.g. to transfer emails) are implemented in this layer. elektor 02-2011 15
61002 MINI PROJECT Reradiating GPS Antenna Banish poor reception in cars By Ton Giesberts (Elektor Lab Labs) bs) A portable navigati system often suffers navigation s ion from poor reception wh used inside a car. n when hen This can easily be improved with the help of an imp prove proved active antenna and the mini circuit described here, which doubles as the battery charger. The signal strength of a portable navigation while we have one of those, we could, at the from a sturdy piece of enamelled copper system such as a TomTom, a Garmin eTrex same time, also use it to charge/power the wire soldered to the prototyping board on or a PDA/mobile phone with built-in GPS- navigation system or PDA while in the car. which the remainder of the circuit is built. receiver is often poor inside a car because of The circuit is so small that all of it is easily The wire is 19 cm long, equal to the GPS the metal coating which is often applied to accommodated on a small piece of proto- signal’s wavelength. It is normally recom- the windscreen of a modern car. A possible typing board of a few square centimetres. mended to keep the loop between 1/8 solution is an active, external antenna. This and 1/4 of the wavelength to prevent self type of antenna is available in all sorts of The circuit basically consists of a standard resonance. But with a larger dimension it shapes and sizes. However, many portable application for the LM317 voltage regulator is easier to bend it into a shape that suits GPS-receivers do not have a connection for (C3 for less noise and higher ripple/interfer- the GPS receiver better (the loop has to be an external antenna (any more); PDAs are ence suppression) and a pass-through cir- positioned near the location of the internal not all that likely to have one either. cuit for the signal from the active antenna antenna). to the antenna which will be mounted near In order to provide a navigation system the navigation system. A loop antenna is The power supply for the active antenna is without an external antenna connection used for the radiating element. This is made first RF decoupled with R4 and C5/C6. R4 is with a stronger satellite signal, it is possible to use a so-called re-radiating antenna. A loop antenna is installed either in, behind, or IC1 in front of the navigation system (depend- K2 F1 LM317 ing on the position of the receiving antenna 3 2 inside the navigation system) which then re- 0A5 adj 5V C8 radiates the received and amplified GPS sig- S1 R1 1 R2 R4 0 K1 100n 270R nal from an active antenna mounted on the 3k3 1R C1 C2 C4 outside of the car. In this way the navigation K3 L1 Active system is still able to receive a sufficiently 1u 100n 1u antenna 63V 63V large signal so that it can function properly. +12...14V R3 D1 C3 C5 C6 C7 820R 10u 1n 100p 100p For this design we only need a commer- 63V cial active GPS antenna and a tuned cir- cuit which will re-radiate the output signal 100808 - 11 that is available on the connector at the end of the active antenna cable. In addi- tion, we require a regulated power supply Figure 1. The schematic for the circuit: a voltage regulator and an antenna circuit which for powering the active GPS antenna. And re-radiates the GPS signal from an active antenna. 16 02-2011 elektor
61002 Advertisement AFFORDABLE EXPERTISE THE PC OSCILLOSCOPE RANGE FROM PICO TECHNOLOGY a normal, through-hole resistor which is mainly used as an induc- tor. By keeping the value of R4 low, the voltage drop across it is kept as small as possible. L1 decouples the active antenna signal from the power supply voltage. L1 is an air-cored coil, made by wind- BANDWIDTH ing a few turns (6 or so) around a small diameter drill bit (diameter 20 MHz to 12 GHz 5 mm). Keep the individual turns apart by at least the thickness of the wire used (for example 0.5 mm CuL). This is to minimise the internal capacitance. A standard 100-pF-capacitor is used to cou- SAMPLING RATES ple the signal from the active antenna to the loop antenna. None 50 MS/s to 5 GS/s of this is very critical. The photo shows the assembled prototype. The circuit was MEMORY found to work superbly. We have tested it within the thick walls 8 kS to 1 GS of our castle with, among others, a Pocket PC Mio P350. This had no reception inside the building, but by placing it next to the loop antenna it was able to find six satellites quite quickly. RESOLUTION The active antenna was placed near a window. The 5-V voltage on K2 can be used as the power supply for the Pocket PC (or GPS 8 to 16 bits receiver or some other device with GPS functionality). This is often a mini-USB connector which is also intended for charging PRICES the battery. Fuse F1 is there for safety, so that when experiment- ing you will not easily blow one of the car’s fuses. In our proto- £125 to £6995 type, the power consumption (without load on K2) amounted to just below 28 mA. Latest Software Updates: I²C & CAN bus decoding, There appears to be no standard for the connector at he end of the mask limit testing, advanced triggers, cable of the active antenna. The same antenna is often available digital low pass filtering, rapid triggering with different types of connectors. For testing we used an older type made by Trimble (39265-50) which has 5 meters of cable and an MCX connector. There are also active antennas with SMA, SMB, etc. So before you buy an active antenna, check that you can also obtain the corresponding chassis-mount connector. www.picotech.com/scope203 (100808-I) elektor 02-2011 17
61002 HOME & GARDEN Gentle Awakenings Programmed sunrise By Aike Terjung (Germany) In the natural world, our biological clocks are controlled by daylight. The light alarm clock described here imitates a natural sunrise to wake you gently from your slumbers in a natural manner. Start your day better by waking to the light instead of that horrid alarm clock. We all know the unpleasant to what happens at sunrise, and in feeling of being rudely awak- Features any case it is more attractive than ened from our sleep by the • Output connector for one or more dimmable 230 V / 115 V what you see with an LED dimmed buzzing, beeping or ringing lamps (80 W max.) under PWM control. If you wanted of an alarm clock. This often • DCF77 radio time synchronisation to simulate this effect with LEDs, happens when you’re in deep you would have to use RGB LEDs • Touch sensor for switching off the alarm sleep, which frequently results or LEDs with several different col- • ATmega168 microcontroller in not feeling properly awake ours. Things would be even more or groggy the whole day long. • PCB and programmed microcontroller available from Elektor complicated if you also wanted to However, it doesn’t have to • Firmware and source code available free from Elektor be able to continuously vary the be this way. If you sleep in • Can also be used on 115 V power grids brightness. The power savings that the summer with the win- could be achieved by using LEDs dows unobstructed, you often are anyhow very limited because awaken spontaneously when it becomes fitted with an incandescent bulb (normal or the alarm clock does not keep the lamp lit light outside. halogen). Although it might seem more log- for hours on end. When you awaken in this natural, gentle ical to use power LEDs, there are good rea- In addition to a lamp, the light alarm clock manner, you also feel much better, and this sons for using an incandescent lamp. Aside naturally needs to know what time it is. A feeling often persists all day. Obviously, from low cost (money and effort) and the DCF77 receiver module is a good solution it would be better to start your day with possibility of using a lamp you already have here, since it allows us to use a fairly sim- a simulated sunrise if the real thing isn’t on hand (such as a bedside lamp), the col- ple, software-controlled time base in the available. our characteristics of incandescent lamps microcontroller. There’s no need for a real- are better for this purpose. The colour of time clock, since the microcontroller clock Light and time the light from an incandescent lamp var- frequency (controlled by an external quartz The light alarm clock described here is built ies when it is dimmed, gradually changing crystal) is sufficiently accurate to allow it to around a microcontroller and can switch from a strong red hue to nearly white as manage for several hours without a proper and dim an existing 230-V lamp (or lamps) the brightness is increased. This is similar DCF77 radio signal. 18 02-2011 elektor
61002 HOME & GARDEN Table 1. Touch sensor functions State Touch duration Action Switch on display backlight Display backlight off < 1 second for 1 minute Lamp off; alarm not active > 3 seconds Switch on lamp at full brightness Lamp on (including alarm phase) > 3 seconds Switch off lamp S Sensor buttons and dimmer Switch off alarm Th There’s more to the alarm clock circuit Wake-up alarm < 1 second (with optional snooze function) th than just a microcontroller. A display an and buttons are necessary for the user in interface. In the schematic diagram (F (Figure 1) of the alarm clock, you can The alarm clock is controlled by five but- the level on the I/O pin while it is returning rig right away see that the user interface ton functions in total. The fifth ‘button’ to the High level. The capacitance of the ta takes the form of an inexpensive (and is a capacitive sensor based on an idea signal line and the connected metallic sen- ub ubiquitous) LCD module with two lines described on a German microcontroller sor surface is charged via resistor R15, and of 16 characters (LCD1) along with four forum [1]. The sensor consists of a metal- the logic level changes back to logic 1 when pu pushbutton switches (S1–S4), which lic surface connected to the Sensor input the voltage crosses the switching threshold. ar connected to the main circuit board are (near R13), which is connected to an I/O The software can determine the capaci- (Fi (Figure 2) by plug-and-socket connec- pin (PC5) of the ATmega microcontroller tance of the sensor circuit connected to to (K7 and K8) and a length of 5-way tors via R13 and a protection network consist- the I/O pin by measuring how long this pro- cable if necessary. Each switch pulls ing of D2, D3 and R15. The microcontroller cess takes. If you touch the sensor surface, an I/O pin of the ATmega168 (IC2) to firmware (written in C in the WinAVR devel- the capacitance increases and the charging ground. Pull-up resistors (R7–R10) opment environment) periodically switches time increases accordingly. provide defined high levels when the the output of this pin from logic 1 (High) to The author used the aluminium front panel switches are in the quiescent state. logic 0 (Low) and then repeatedly samples of his light alarm clock as the sensor surface. +5V +5V K3 R1 C7 10k 100n T2 +5V +5V S1 S2 S3 S4 K8 BC547 K4 R10 R9 R8 R7 R12 20 7 21 10k 10k 10k 10k 10k AVCC VCC AREF K7 D5 23 PC0 (ADC0) IC3 R16 R2 24 DCF PC1 (ADC1) ATmega168 10k 1k L1 25 K1 PC2 (ADC2) R18 100uH 26 -20PU 2 PC3 (ADC3) PD0 (RXD) 22R 27 3 5A PC4 (ADC4/SDA) PD1 (TXD) TRI1 R5 R4 28 4 +5V 1 PC5 (ADC5/SCL) PD2 (INT0) 5 330R R19 K5 1k5 K2 PC6 (RESET) PD3 (INT1) D4 BTA16- R15 6 C4 600BW D2 PD4 (XCK/T0) 1k IC2 14 11 100k 4 1 1N4148 PB0 (ICP) PD5 (T1) F1 15 12 100n Sensor R13 PB1 (OC1A) PD6 (AIN0) X2 16 13 1N4148 100R PB2 (SS/OC1B) PD7 (AIN1) +5V T4 17 R17 D3 K6 PB3 (MOSI/OC2) 2 1 18 470R 2A5 T 6 2 1N4148 PB4 (MISO) R11 4 3 19 PB5 (SCK) BC639 4R7 JP2 MOC3023 6 5 TR1 C12 GND XTAL1 XTAL2 GND ISP LCD1 115 10n C15 C13 IC1 22 9 10 8 P1 LM2940CT-5.0 +5V C5 C6 JP1 10n 10n BC547 T1 1 D1 X1 VSS 1 3 2 B1 220u 230 VDD 25V 100n 10k 3 C16 C14 1N4004 C11 R20 R21 4 VL C10 C9 C8 C1 JP3 2 C2 10MHz C3 RS 5 100k 10n 10n 10k 220u 100n 100n 22u 100n R/W 115 15p 15p 6 2x8V/1VA5 B40C1500 25V 35V 7 E * 8 D0 D1 9 D2 10 B1 R14 D3 11 D4 6k8 B40C1500 12 D5 13 D6 14 D7 15 R6 LED+A 16 15R LED-C T3 R3 470R 2 x 16 (DEM16217) BC639 080850 - 11 Figure 1. The circuit of the light alarm clock essentially combines the functions of a dimmer controlled by a microcontroller and a timer clock. Both of these functions are implemented in microcontroller firmware. elektor 02-2011 19
61002 HOME & GARDEN COMPONENT LIST T1,T2 = BC547B X1 = 10MHz quartz crystal, HC-49/S case, Resistors T3,T4 = BC639 50ppm, 12pF load capacitance, e.g. AVX TRI1 = BTA16-600BW (e.g. STMicroelectronics HC49SFWB10000H0PESZZ) R1,R2,R7,R8,R9,R10,R12,R20 = 10kΩ BTA16-600BWRG) F1 = fuse, 2.5A slow, 5x20 mm, with PCB R3,R17 = 470Ω IC1 = LM2940CT-5.0 (National mount holder and protective cap R4 = 330Ω Semiconductor) TR1 = power transformer, 2x8 V sec. 2x115 V R5 = 1.5kΩ IC2 = MOC3023 (Fairchild) prim., 1.5VA (e.g. Block AVB 1.5/2/8) or R6 = 15Ω IC3 = ATmega168-20PU, programmed, Elek- 1x9 V sec., 1x230 V prim., 1.5VA (e.g. Block R11 = 4.7Ω tor # 080850-41* VB 1.5/1/9, see text) R13 = 100Ω LCD1 = 2 x 16 characters (DEM16217), e.g. R14 = 6.8kΩ Miscellaneous Elektor # 030451-72 R15,R21 = 100kΩ K1,K2 = 2-way PCB terminal block, lead pitch Piezo buzzer, e.g. Kingstate KPEG827, or 8Ω R16,R19 = 1kΩ 7.5mm (0.3 in.) loudspeaker (min. 0.1W) R18 = 22Ω K3,K4 = 4-pin SIL pinheader, 0.1 in. pitch PCB # 080850-1* P1 = 10kΩ trimpot K5 = 2-pin pinheader, 0.1 in. pitch K6 = 6-pin (2x3) pinheader, 0.1 in. pitch * Elektor Shop, www.elektor.com/080850 Capacitors K7,K8,K9 = 5-pin SIL pinheader, 0.1 in. pitch C1,C6,C7,C9,C10 = 100nF, ceramic, lead pitch LCD1 = 16-pin SIL pinheader, 0.1 in. pitch 5mm S1,S2,S3,S4 = pushbutton, SPNO, e.g. Multi- C2,C3 = 15pF 2%, ceramic, 5mm lead pitch comp MCDTS6-5N C4 = 100nF, X2 class, 275VAC rated, 15mm lead pitch, 5mm wide C5,C11 = 220μF 25V radial, 3.5mm lead pitch C8 = 22μF 35V, radial, 2.5mm lead pitch C12,C13,C14,C15,C16 = 10nF ce- ramic, 5mm lead pitch Inductors L1 = 100μH 5.4A triac suppressor coil (e.g. Murata Power Solu- tions type 1410454C) Semiconductors D1 = 1N4004 D2,D3,D4 = 1N4148 D5 = LED, low current, diam. 5mm, Kingbright type L-53LSRD B1 = 40V 1.2A bridge rectifier, Se- Figure 2. The PCB (available from the Elektor Shop) has a narrow strip for the four pushbuttons, mikron type SKBB40C1500L5B which can be separated from the main PCB. The functions listed in Table 1 can be acti- Connections site for reference. Only pins 1 to 3 of the vated by touching the sensor surface. One We already mentioned that the 230 V DCF77 receiver module are used; they are of these functions is switching the backlight (115 V) lamp(s) is (are) connected to K1 connected to pins 1 to 3 of K4. The inverted of the display module, which is controlled and the buttons are connected by K7 and output of the DCF77 module (inverted out- by pin PD6 of the ATmega microcontroller K8. That leaves us with connectors K2 to K6. put) is not used. Pin 4 of K4 is connected and transistor T3. K2 provides the AC power connection to the to PD5 of the ATmega microcontroller and alarm board (115 V or 230 V). An approved provides an Enable signal, which the author The 230 V or 115 V lamp connected to K1 AC power cord with strain relief is con- needed for a different module. DCF77 can (maximum power 80 W) is dimmed by a nected to these terminals. be received across most of Central Europe standard phase-control triac dimmer circuit, and the UK. although here the trigger time of the triac K3 is a serial port for programming and (TRI1) is controlled by the microcontroller debugging. It is compatible with the FTDI A small loudspeaker (8 Ω) or a piezoelec- via an optocoupler (IC2) for mains isolation, USB to TTL adapter cable [3]. tric buzzer can be connected to K5. This instead of by the customary diac and poten- acts as a sort of fail-safe for people who tiometer. The dimmer circuit is based on the The DCF77 receiver module is connected to sleep with an eye mask or as an acoustic ‘Semitone Crystal’ open source design [2]. K4. This port is laid out for the well known alternative to the light alarm. K6 is a six- However, in the alarm clock circuit we dis- Conrad Electronics DCF77 receiver module way ISP port, which for example can be pensed with an optocoupler for zero cross- (order number 641113) shown in Figure 3. used in combination with the Elektor USB ing detection and used a simple transistor The data sheet and circuit diagram of this AVRprog interface [4] for programming (T2) instead. module are available on the Conrad web- and debugging. 20 02-2011 elektor
61002 HOME & GARDEN Power supply Shop (see the components list). Of course, The mains transformer (TR1) on the PCB you may also program the microcontroller receives AC grid power via 115/230-V yourself; the source code and hex file can be power connector K2. This transformer has downloaded free of charge from the Elektor two 115-V primary windings and can be website [5]. configured for either 115 V or 230 V oper- ation using jumpers. For 230 V operation, The PCB consists of two parts. In addition to JP1 must be fitted and JP2/JP3 must be left the main PCB for the light alarm clock, there open; this connects the two primary wind- is a small strip designed to hold the four ings in series. For 115 V operation, leave JP1 pushbutton switches and a header (see Fig- open and fit JP2 and JP3 to connect the two ure 2). No SMDs are used in this circuit, so primary windings to the mains voltage in you can solder everything the same way you parallel. did 30 years ago. As usual, you should pay attention to the orientation and/or polar- The two 8 V secondary windings of the ity of the components. This applies in par- transformer are connected in parallel. The ticular to the bridge rectifier, since devices rest of the power supply circuit is conven- with nearly the same shape but different pin Figure 3. A DCF77 receiver module is used for precise time synchronisation. tional, with a bridge rectifier, electrolytic configurations are available. The right one is This module is based on the proven Temic capacitor and 5 V voltage regulator. The shown in Figure 1. DCF77 receiver IC. only unusual element is diode D1 between the bridge rectifier and storage capacitor Our European readers can fit a regular 230 V C11. This allows the pulsating DC voltage PCB mains transformer with single primary at the output of the bridge rectifier to be and secondary windings instead of the an enclosure for protection against con- tapped off for zero crossing detection by international version with dual primary and tact with live voltages before it is con- transistor T1 and I/O pin PD2 of the micro- secondary windings, as long as it has a com- nected to the mains or put into service. The controller, before it is smoothed by the patible pin configuration. In this case, omit enclosure must comply with the applicable capacitor. the three jumpers. An example of a suitable safety regulations. In this regard, see the The LCD module is also powered from the 230 V transformer is given in the compo- electrical safety instructions published on 5 V rail. Trimpot P1 provides a variable volt- nent list, and any similar EI 30 transformer the Elektor website at www.elektor.com/ age derived from the 5 V supply voltage rated at 1.3 or 2 VA with 230 V on pins 1 and electrical-safety. for adjusting the contrast of the display 5 and 9 V on pins 7 and 9 can also be used. module. If the board is assembled properly and the Initial operation microcontroller is programmed correctly, Assembly AC line voltage (230 V or 115 V) is present you will see the time of day ‘00:00:00’ on A programmed ATmega168 and the PCB for on the PCB and on some components, so the display after you plug in the power this project are available from the Elektor the light alarm clock must be fitted into cable. If you don’t see anything on the dis- Advertisement Prototype & small series PCB specialists ALL SERVICES PCB proto dedicated prototype service widest choice 1 - 8 layers - Instant online pricing STANDARD pool - Instant online ordering w TECH pool - Low pooling prices Ne - Deliveries from 2 days w IMS pool metal-backed PCBs - No tooling charges Ne - Stencil service On demand all options up to 16 layers Call us: +44 (0) 20 8816 8180 Email: euro@eurocircuits.com www.eurocircuits.com See us live at Southern Manufacturing and Electronics 2011 – Stand H29 elektor 02-2011 21
61002 HOME & GARDEN Table 2. Menu button functions Button Function Back S1 (return to previous menu item) S2 OK (confirm) S3 > (larger or upwards) S4 < (smaller or downwards) the alarm clock is operating in debug mode. Among other things, this menu shows the number of detected bits since the last start marker of the DCF77 signal and the last detected bit in this signal. If no informa- Figure 4. The fully assembled Elektor prototype board. tion is displayed in Debug mode, there is a problem with DCF77 reception. This may be due to the location of the receiver or the play, first check whether the contrast is Alarm antenna orientation, or it may be caused by adjusted properly (with P1). Alarm active misconnection of the receiver module or a Next the alarm clock tries to receive the cur- Alarm time defective receiver module. rent time from the DCF77 module. After it receives a correct data set, a small trans- Settings Your own ideas mitting tower symbol is displayed next Set alarm The software for this project, including the to the time to indicated that data is being - with light source code, can be downloaded from the received. However, it may take several min- - with sound Elektor website and was generated using a utes after this symbol appears before the - Dimmer advance free C compiler (GCC), so there is nothing correct time is displayed, since the pro- to stop you from modifying it as desired – gram (to be on the safe side) waits until it Debug for example, you could completely remodel has received two successive data sets before the control menus and add new functions. it updates the time. Use the Alarm menu to enable the alarm One very nice change would be to replace If you now briefly touch the sensor surface, and set the alarm time. When setting the the brutal acoustic alarm signal with a gen- the backlight of the display will light up for alarm time, bear in mind that the simu- tle wave noise signal whose amplitude approximately one minute. lated sunrise is programmed to end at the increases gradually along with the increas- If you touch the sensor surface for longer set alarm time, so the alarm clock starts the ing light intensity. For stubborn sleepy- than around three seconds, the lamp con- alarm process earlier than the set time. For heads, you could also add a ‘Maximum vol- nected to K1 is switched on. To switch it off this reason, the light will remain completely ume’ menu item with the options ‘Hurri- again, repeat this action. dark if the time interval until the set alarm cane’ or ‘Jet fighter take-off’. The front panel of the author’s prototype time is shorter than the duration of the sim- acts as the touch sensor surface. It is ulated sunrise (the ‘dimmer advance’ time). Finally, Elektor USA readers are encouraged connected to the sensor port of the PCB. to develop software based on their national Use the Settings menu to configure the time signal stations like WWV and WWVB. Control menu basic alarm clock settings. In the ‘Set alarm’ Let us know. The menu settings can be configured using submenu you can enable or disable the light (080850-I) the four buttons, whose assigned functions alarm, enable or disable the supplementary are listed in Table 2. acoustic alarm, and specify the duration [1] www.mikrocontroller.net/topic/25045 First press S2 to display the alarm clock of the light alarm phase. This alarm phase (in German) menu. Then press S2 again to open the (‘Dimmer advance’) can be set in the ‘Set- [2] www.engbedded.com/semitone Alarm submenu, or press S3 to open the tings’ menu. The default setting is 15 min- Settings menu. A user guide in the form of utes, but you can also select 30, 45 or 60 [3] www.elektor.com/080213 a detailed overview of the menus is availa- minutes. [4] www.elektor.com/080083 ble for downloading at [5]. The basic menu [5] www.elektor.com/080850 structure is as follows: The Debug menu is displayed only when 22 02-2011 elektor
61002 MIAC – the rugged PIC 7 6 What does it do? 5 MIAC is an industrial grade control unit which can be used to control 9 8 a wide range of different electronic 10 systems. It has a lots of applications 3 4 in industrial control and automation 11 and is perfect for hobbyist PIC 1 2 projects that need a little oomph. 17 13 12 16 14 15 Key 1. Top hat rail mounting recess 10. 2. 11. Control keys 3. 12. M3 mounting holes 4. 13. 5 14. Motor output screw terminals 6. 15. 7. 16. Relay output screw terminals 8. Reset / run switch 17. 9. Flowcode – the graphical programming language supplied with MIAC Benefits Create your own PIC pro jects with the advantageous MIAC C or Assembly code Bundle. This package co nsists of a MIAC Module (in en closure) and the graphical progra Features mming language ‘Flowcode 3 for PIC’ (Professional-Version)! C compilers speed control Bundle Price: keys Using MIAC with FlowKit to give full IN-Circuit Order now at Debug with Flowcode www.elektor.com/miac-bu ndle
61002 RADIO & RF Ultimatic CW Keyer For high-speed telegraphy operators By Nenad Rotter 9A5AN (Croatia) There are still many radio amateurs who enjoy CW (which does not fully equate to ‘Morse’). Those who are proficient at it achieve incredible speeds and typically like to use paddles enabling the dots and dashes to be generated via separate levers using thumb and finger. The circuit discussed here was developed specially for this type of key. It looks after a lot of time related issues such as the pauses between dots and words, fully supporting the renowned Ultimatic mode. A small monitor amplifier is also accommodated on the PCB. The idea to develop this automatic CW • keying speed from 5 to 100 wpm (words and words, as well as encourage the telegra- (continuous wave) keyer arose after some per minute); pher to use real ‘squeeze’ keying technique. discussions with fellow QRQ (QR-Quick = • high quality CW monitor; high-speed CW) telegraphers. They com- • open to improvements and personal The Ultimatic algorithm plained about commercial keyers on mar- preferences. The Ultimatic algorithm is not generally ket being limited to Iambic mode only known among radio amateurs, hence the when the ‘Ultimatic keyer’ is what they As further considerations, the keyer should short discussion below. The Ultimatic algo- were after. ‘Ultimatic’ represents a real be simple to use, with no bells & whistles rithm, as well as the ‘Iambic’ algorithm squeeze technique keyer. that a high-speed telegrapher can’t be both- developed later, is based on squeezing two ered about. Therefore, all parameters of the levers (or ‘paddles’) rather than straight Having listened to (‘copied’) the complaints CW code are defined according to a stand- closing and releasing of a traditional single and wishes, the author summarised the ard and can’t be changed. No functions for lever key. The basic idea of squeeze keying is main characteristics of a new keyer to be CW contest are implemented because now- the possibility of simultaneously pressing the developed as follows: adays radio amateurs are using dedicated levers for dot and dash to reduce the total programs on PCs for this purpose. The new number of presses of the levers necessary • Ultimatic algorithm in case of squeeze keyer should be suitable for practicing to for CW code keying. The resulting reduc- keying; achieve correct pauses between characters tion of hand movements allows higher key- 24 02-2011 elektor
61002 RADIO & RF K1 D2 13V8 1N4004 IC3 +5V 1 7805 3 S4 JP4 TR1 B80C1500 R1 115 C6 C4 1k 2 K6 JP3 BD135-16 T1 R2 C3 C2 47n 47n B1 4k7 230 D3 100n 10u F1 C7 C5 C1 C8 63V JP5 D4 47n 47n 470u 47u 115 25V 10V 25V +10V 0W5 32mA T 2x6V/3VA2 HE721A1210 K2 L1 +5V DASH K5 100uH D1 RE1 C16 OUT L2 DOT 100n K3 PADDLE 100uH 1N4148 C11 C10 Re Tr R4 100R 47n 47n JP1 1 IC1 PHONES R6 VDD 13 2 R5 15k RA0/AN0 RA5/T1CKI 12 3 K4 100R RA1/AN1 RA4/AN3 T2 11 4 RA2/AN2 RA3/MCLR R3 10 5 +5V RC0/AN4 RC5/RX 2k2 9 6 RC1/AN5 RC4/TX C14 8 7 JP2 PHONES RC2/AN6 RC3/AN7 S2 S1 BC639 1u VSS 14 63V PIC16F688 REC PLAY P1 R11 R10 R9 R8 R7 +10V C9 AUTO SPACING 1 IC2 30k 30k 30k 30k 30k ON/OFF 220u 16V S3 PH C15 C18 8 10k R16 R15 R14 R13 2 LS 15k 15k 15k 15k 5n6 470n 4 LS1 5 R12 P2 R17 C13 C12 C17 3 6 30k 1M 47n 47n 1u 63V TDA7052A 10k 100087 - 11 Figure 1. The Ultimatic CW keyer packs an impressive amount of intelligence into a small microcontroller, hence the compactness of the circuit. Anyone got the blueprint of the W6SRY 1955 tubed original handy? Quick Features • Operating mode: 600–2000 Hz, adjustable in increments of 5% standard or Ultimatic in case of ‘squeeze’ keying • Tone waveform for monitoring: sine, amplitude modulated • Keying speed: • Max. audio output power: 5–100 wpm (words per minute), adjustable with the external 0.15 watts (optional: 0.5 watts) (8 Ω speaker), external volume potentiometer in increments of 1 wpm up to 36 wpm and control thereafter in increments of 2 wpm • Headphone connectors: • Dot/Dash ratio: 1:3 2; connectivity with radio station’s audio output • Pause between two elements: 1 dot • Memory: one, capacity approx. 16 words • Automatic generation of pause between characters / words (auto • TX output: transistor or reed relay spacing); can be disabled • Minimum pulse at the dot / dash input: 3 μs • Automatic pause between characters: 3 dots • Power supply: Powerline (230/115 VAC) or 13.8 VDC from rig • Automatic pause between words: 7 dots • Power consumption: 0.3 W typical, max. 2 W • Frequency of monitor tone: elektor 02-2011 25
61002 RADIO & RF Boastware: Ultimatic algorithm advantages To make the Ultimatic algorithm advantages more obvious, let’s examine all characters. Letters E, H, I, M, O, S and T as well as numbers 0 and are 5 always keyed with one lever only and need not be considered here. A single squeeze (both levers pressed and released at same time) is enough for the keying of letters A, B, D, J, N and W as well as numbers 1 and 6. In the case of the Iambic algorithm, these are only letters A, C and N as well as A N 0 full stop (point), semicolon and plus. B O 1 All other characters can be keyed out with the lever of the initial element continuously pressed. In the case of the Iambic algorithm C P 2 that’s possible only for letters F, G, K, L, Q, R, U, V and Y as well as D Q 3 numbers 4 and 9 E R 4 More than two lever presses are necessary for letter C as well F S 5 as parenthesis, full stop (point), semicolon, slash, plus sign and comma. G T 6 Comparing by number of lever presses, the Ultimatic algorithm H U 7 is more effective than the Iambic algorithm except for the letter I V 8 C, full stop, semicolon and plus sign. However, the Ultimatic J W 9 algorithm allows keying of all characters with true squeeze K X . technique while with Iambic algorithm letters B, D, J, P, W, X and Z, numbers 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 and 8 as well as minus sign, question mark, L Y , parentheses, equal, slash, comma and exclamation mark can’t be M Z ? keyed out using squeeze technique at all because during keying 100087 - 12 it’s necessary to release the opposite element lever, meaning these characters should be keyed with standard single-lever technique. ing speeds to be achieved with relative ease. ing because the Iambic algorithm does To make the principle easy to understand, All relative to the traditional up/down key, not enable all CW characters to be keyed here are few samples of CW code genera- of course. out with genuine ‘squeeze’ technique. tion based on the Ultimatic algorithm: The squeeze technique and associated Ulti- The Iambic algorithm simply generates dots matic algorithm were developed by John and dashes (‘elements’) alternatively when ? (··−−··) the dot lever was pressed first and Kaye, W6SRY. Back in 1955, Kaye published both levers are squeezed together. By con- generation of dots start. During the gen- his article The All-Electronic “Ultimatic“ Keyer trast, ‘Ultimatic’ generates one dot and a series eration of the second dot, the dash lever in QST magazine. The all-tube keyer had an of dashes, or vice versa. Looking at the possible was pressed also and generation of dashes integrated twin lever paddle and was able to combinations for the levers being pressed: starts. Both levers are pressed! When gen- generate CW code according to the Ultimatic eration of the second dash starts, the dash algorithm philosophy. Acceptance was slow • in case of both levers squeezed ‘simul- lever is released and keyer is generating and twin lever paddles did not appear widely taneously’, the element belonging to dots again. During the second dot genera- on the market until around 1964. the lever first pressed will be gener- tion, the dot lever was released also. ated, followed by continuous genera- The Iambic algorithm, known to almost tion of the other element as long as the 1 (·−−−−) the dot lever was pressed just every radio amateur, was worked out lever for it is held pressed. After that, before the dash lever. Then both levers are by John Curtis, K6KU. In 1968 he made the first element will continue to be pressed. The keyer generates one dot and a semiconductor keyer called the TK-38 generated as long as first element lever continues with generating dashes. Both which generated CW code based on the is held actuated. levers can be squeezed and released simul- Iambic algorithm. In the following years, taneously when the fourth dash starts, or Curtis even developed a few integrated • with one lever continuously pressed the dot lever can be released at any time circuits supporting the Iambic algorithm. it is possible to insert one or more of keeping only the dash lever pressed until This is probably why the Iambic algo- the opposite elements at any desired the fourth dash starts. rithm became widespread and today’s moment. transceivers have integrated electronic Q (−−·−) the dash lever is pressed and the keyers built in that work according to • when both levers are released keyer generates dashes. While the second the Iambic algorithm. However, this is ‘together’, the last element to be gener- dash is being generated, the dot lever is also the main reason for so many teleg- ated is the one associated with the lever pressed briefly. After the second dash is fin- raphers actually not using squeeze key- pressed last. ished, one dot gets generated followed by 26 02-2011 elektor
61002 RADIO & RF the last dash. At that time the dash lever is ply voltage is likely to drop below 6 volts at can be divided into several sections. Only released also. full output power. three will be discussed briefly, with notes Since it is not required for a lever to be Switch S3 allows the internal speaker to be on operating and configuring the keyer released to enable generation of the ‘oppo- silenced — the audio signal from the keying added. The Operator’s Chart printed here site’ element, lever handling can be more monitor is then redirected to connectors K3 is useful to have handy with the keyer. You relaxed with all types of overlap that are not and K4. These are wired in parallel to enable may want to copy it and stick it on a piece time critical. There is just one ‘must’, and connection of transceiver headphone audio of cardboard for easy reference. that’s to stick to correct pressing of both output simultaneously with the keyer. In this levers in order to properly generate a CW way you can listen to the receiver audio signal for each character. during reception as well as the keying moni- tor’s audio signal during CW transmitting. Schematic diagram Many transceivers have poor keying moni- Ultimatic CW Keyer Operator’s Chart Looking at the schematic of the Ultimatic tors built in, especially on higher CW speeds. CW Keyer in Figure 1, the complexity is The keying output to the transceiver can be only apparent and mostly due to the pas- by transistor or by reed relay depending on CW sive components in the keying monitor. The the setting of 3-pin jumper JP1. Although [REC] 1s S heart of keyer is a Microchip microcontroller the relay indicated here has an integrated type PIC16F688. It was chosen because of back-emf diode, a separate diode D1 is pro- EE RAM: [PLAY] R its internal 8 MHz oscillator, 10-bit A/D con- vided in the circuit to accommodate pin : [REC] R verter, 14-pin housing and 12 I/O lines, the compatible relays that might not have back- latter ample to connect the CPU to input emf protection. CW and output signals as well as to an R-2R net- work for audio signal generation. For most transceivers ‘TX to ground’ pro- [PLAY] - · - · .. vided by the transistor will be okay but the : [ · ] or [ - ] The squeeze paddle is connected to the reed relay can ensure a potential-free con- keyer circuit through 6.3 mm jack socket tact for special cases. The relay will also f≈ K5. The dot and dash lever contacts are con- ensure galvanic isolation between keyer nected to microcontroller inputs trough RF and transceiver, if needed. Bear in mind that [REC] + [PLAY] ≈ filters L1/C10 and L2/C11 to eliminate any the relay has to be fast, hence a type with a f :[·] f :[-] RF noise induced in the paddle cable. The maximum contact close and release time of keying speed is adjustable with potenti- 1 ms is specified here. : [REC] ometer P1 which sets the voltage on PIC The on-board power supplies allow the analogue input AN0. With 64 voltage lev- keyer to be powered either from your AC WPM info els available, 64 keying speeds in the range power socket (230 VAC or 115 VAC, set [REC] + [ - ] n.n. from 5 to 100 wpm have been defined. wire links JP3-4-5 as required) or from the Resistors R7 through R16 (1% tolerance) 13.8 VDC taken from the transceiver or its together form a 5-bit R-2R network for sin- power supply. Transistor T1 acts as a rudi- RAM EE ewave audio signal generation. Capacitors mentary voltage stabiliser and filter for the [REC] + [ · ] 5s SETUP C12 and C13 are part of a low-pass filter to audio amplifier. The 5-V stabilised supply suppress the sinewave sampling frequency rail for the PIC micro is provided by a 7805 [REC] MSG .. R at 32×f. C15 acts mostly as an attenuator. regulator, which may be replaced with a Potentiometer P2 is the audio volume con- 78L05, the 16F688 being ‘QRP’ i.e. a few trol. The CW monitor (‘listen-in’) ampli- milliamps only. Green LED D4 is the ON The purpose of the auto spacing routine is fier is based around the TDA7052A which indicator taking into account that the power to insert correct time pauses between char- conveniently requires few external parts switch is on the back side of the box. acters and words based on the CW standard. to operate. Output power in the configura- The keyer has only two pushbuttons, S1 The routine executes in the main program tion shown is about 0.15 watts. Those hard (PLAY) and S2 (REC). Their function will be loop and can be disabled with jumper J2. If J2 of hearing or wishing to impress a larger cir- explained below, as well as that of jumper JP2. is open, the routine is enabled. Auto spacing cle of bystanders may increase the output can significantly improve the quality of your power to 0.5 W by trebling the value of C15 Software and Operation CW code and can help the telegrapher to get or connecting a 100 kΩ resistor between For those with access to PIC programming a good sense of timing for the specified pause. pin 4 of the TDA and the +5 V rail. Doing so tools, the software for the project is a free Proper pauses between characters and words will stretch the limits of the simple 10 V sta- download from the Elektor website [1]. The are the biggest problem during keying. biliser around T1 though, and the TDA sup- CW keyer source code is fairly complex and A SETUP routine has been added to keyer elektor 02-2011 27
61002 RADIO & RF COMPONENT LIST Resistors R1 = 1kΩ R2 = 4.7kΩ R3 = 2.2kΩ R4,R5 = 100Ω R6,R13-R16 = 15kΩ 1% R7-R12 = 30kΩ 1% R17 = 1MΩ P1 = 10kΩ potentiometer, mono, linear (not on circuit board) P2 = 10kΩ, potentiometer, mono, logarithmic (not on circuit board) Capacitors C1 = 470μF 25V radial, electrolytic, lead spacing 5mm C2 = 10μF, 63V, radial, electrolytic, lead spacing 2.5mm C3 = 100nF 50V, ceramic, lead spacing 5mm C4-C7 = 47nF 50V, ceramic, lead spacing 5mm C8 = 47μF 25V, radial, electrolytic, lead Figure 2. This small board was designed by Elektor labs to build the Ultimatic keyer. Note spacing 2.5mm that controls like pots and switches are externally connected to the board. The copper C9 = 220μF, 16V, radial, electrolytic, lead track artwork is a free download from [1]. spacing 2.5mm C10-C13 = 47nF, ceramic or MKT, lead spacing 5mm or 7.5mm IC2 = TDA7052A/N2 (‘A’ suffix device must be K5 = 6.3mm (1/4’’) jack socket, switched, C14,C17 = 1μF 63V, radial, electrolytic, lead used) 3-way, PCB mount, e.g. Cliff Electronic spacing 2.5mm IC3 = 7805 Components type S2BBBPCA C15 = 5.6nF 5%, polyester/MKT, lead spacing 5 B1 = 100V 1.5A bridge rectifier, Vishay General K6,S4 = 2-way PCB terminal block, lead spacing or 7.5mm Semiconductor type W01G 7.5 mm, Camden Electronics CTB0110/2 C16 = 100nF 50V, ceramic, lead spacing 5mm LS1 = miniature loudspeaker, 1W / 8Ω (not on C18 = 470nF 63V, polyester, lead spacing 5mm Miscellaneous circuit board) F1 = fuse, 32mA (230VAC), 63mA (115VAC), RE1 = reed relay, 12VDC, SPST-NO, e.g. Hamlin Inductor Electronics type HE721A1210. slow blow, with PCB mount holder and cap L1,L2 = 100μH choke, axial, e.g. Bourns type D4,S1,S2,JP2 = 2-pin pinheader, lead spacing S1,S2 = pushbutton, 1 make contact, e.g. 79F101K-TR-RC 0.1’’ (2.54mm) APEM type 9633NVD with black cap type D4,S1,S2 = 2-way socket SIL, straight, lead U482 (not on circuit board) Semiconductors S3 = SPST (toggle) switch (not on circuit board) spacing 0.1’’ (2.54 mm) D1 = 1N4148 JP1 = 3-pin pinheader with jumper, 0.1’’ (2.54 S3,P1,P2 = 3-pin pinheader, 0.1’’ (2.54mm) D2 = 1N4004 mm) S3,P1,P2 = 3-way socket, 0.1’’ (2.54mm) D3 = 10V 0.5W zener diode JP2 = 2-pin pinheader with jumper, 0.1’’ (2.54 TR1 = AC power transformer, PCB mount, D4 = LED, green, 3mm mm) prim. 2x115 V, sec. 2x6V 2.3VA, e.g. Block T1 = BD135-16 K1 = 2-way PCB terminal block, lead spacing type AVB2.3/2/6. Strap primary for local AC T2 = BC639 5mm line voltage. IC1 = PIC16F688-I/P, programmed, Elektor # K2,K3,K4 = 3.5mm stereo jack socket, PCB PCB # 100087-1, see [1] 100087-41, see [1] mount, e.g. Lumberg 1503 09 software. It allows copying of the message s. The keyer will key ‘MSG’ and the message ficient especially after frequency adjust- saved in RAM to EEPROM, as CW keyer user saved in RAM will get copied into EEPROM. ment with the software tool. Frequency could permanently save frequently used When done you will hear ‘R’ keyed out and can be changed in increments of approxi- messages and make RAM memory free for the keyer is ready for normal use. The mes- mately 60 kHz and after adjusting the CW temporary messages which will be auto- sage saved in EEPROM can be overwritten speed error will not exceed ± 0.5%. The pro- matically erased after keyer is switch off. with a new message at any time by repeat- cedure for oscillator frequency adjustment The SETUP routine is also used for PIC oscil- ing the procedure described. The message is not too complicated and described in a lator frequency adjustment which will be in EEPROM can be erased by copying pre- free supplementary document [1]. explained below. Launching of the routine viously erased RAM into it. Microchip guar- takes 5 s and the routine is active only 3 s, antees one million write cycles to EEPROM. Construction and testing this is done to prevent accidentally start The circuit is built on an Elektor-designed it. The SETUP routine is started by press- Internal oscillator frequency adjustment. printed circuit board of which the com- ing REC and the dot lever simultaneously. The PIC 16F688, like many other new types ponent overlay is shown in Figure 2. Only After that, REC can be released but Dot lever of PIC, has an internal oscillator with a through-hole components are used, so must remain pressed for at least 5 seconds, default frequency of 8 MHz, and the use of assembling this board should not cause until the keyer starts to key ‘SETUP’. After an external quartz crystal is optional. Here, problems provided you work accurately that, REC] must be pressed briefly within 3 the accuracy of the internal oscillator is suf- as it has to be admitted the component 28 02-2011 elektor
61002 RADIO & RF arrangement is fairly dense in places. When the 230/115 VAC power connections to gathering the components for the project, the board. All wiring between the board pay attention to the pin arrangement of and external AC power switch S4 must jack sockets K2, K3, K4 (3.5 mm) and K5 be secure and rated at 250 VAC mini- (6.3 mm). Also note the size and lead pitch mum. On/off switch S4 must be rated and of C18 for which a space of about 3.5 mm approved for AC line voltage (230 VAC / is available on the board. The programmed 115 VAC) switching. Do not even dream of PIC micro is preferably mounted in a 14-pin going sloppy here. DIL socket. The 7805 and the BD135 both have an easy job and do not require a heatsink. The completed board is fitted in a metal Ready-programmed PICs for the project are Figure 3. Suggested mounting in a metal enclosure, see Figure 3 for an impression available from Elektor, see [1]. case (author’s prototype). of the author’s prototype. The jack sock- The 13.8 VDC input is by way of a screw ter- ets are lined up at the board edge to enable minal block because a zillion different con- them to protrude from the front panel. The nector systems exist on radio rigs. board — see, for example, potentiometer P1 two pots and the two pushbuttons are con- which gets connected to the board with a nected to the board by way of 0.1-inch pin- The component list includes references to 3-way combination of a SIL pinheader and headers and receptacles. all 2-pin and 3-pin 0.1-inch pinheaders to mating socket. Care and attention should be given to controls and components mounted off the Before installing it in its case, the assem- Advertisement Take out a free subscription to E-weekly now Do you want to stay up to date with electronics and computer technology? Always looking for useful hints, tips and interesting offers? Subscribe now to E-weekly, the free Elektor Newsletter. Your benefits: The latest news on electronics in your own mailbox each friday Free access to the News Archive on the Elektor website You’re authorized to post replies and new topics in our forum Register today on www.elektor.com/newsletter elektor 02-2011 29
61002 RADIO & RF bled board (Figure 4) can be given a quick test by running over some of the routines described in the Software and Operation section above. This requires all controls and a small loudspeaker to be connected, if nec- essary, in a temporary fashion. Connecting to a radio station Connection between keyer and radio sta- tion can be done in several ways depend- ing on your desires and the type of radio station. The first connection method involves con- necting the keyer to the radio station with two cables. First, the ‘control’ cable con- nects the CW output (Out) with paddle Figure 4. A close look at the finished and tested prototype of the keyer assembled by input (Key) on the radio station and serves Elektor Labs. When in doubt, look closely at this photograph - HI. to activate the transmitter while the other, ‘audio’, cable connects the headphone jack (Phones) with an output for headphones vide full galvanic isolation between keyer paddle input. This may occur at older radio (Phones) on the radio station to listen to the and radio station. In this case, the audio stations which have not internal electronic receiver and the keyer monitor on the same cable should not be used, and the reed relay keyer. The reed relay should be used for the headphones. Using this method of connect- selected for the CW output. To ensure gal- CW output, and the control cable should ing the keyer and radio station, grounds vanic isolation of the CW output from the be made as described above (second way are joined via the connecting cable! This keyer ground, the reed relay contacts are of connecting) while the audio cable can method is recommended because it ensures connected to the tip and ring of a 3.5 mm be used as stated in the first method. proper keyer grounding while galvanic iso- stereo connector and the control cable (100087) lation from the AC grid is afforded by the should be made separately. In this case, it transformer. is desirable for the keyer ground to be con- Note: paddle keys used for circuit testing and nected to the ground rail in the radio shack photography kindly provided by If the radio station has a 13.8 V output (not: Radioshack). Anton Klok, PA3AQV. for powering small external loads you are in luck as the keyer is switched on and off The third method of connecting is a com- together with the radio station. bination of first and second methods and is Internet Link When the ground lines of both devices are applicable in the event that the radio sta- [1] www.elektor.com/100087 connected together, the use of reed relay tion requires a potential-free contact on its as the keyer output is pointless because the transistor output provides a better defined CW output (in terms of pulse timing). When using the transistor output, the control and audio cables are identical and standard cables with 3.5 mm diameter ste- reo connectors at both ends. Such cables are used to connect a PC audio card and video monitor which have a built-in speak- ers and/or a microphone, and can be pur- chased ready-made in PC accessory outlets. It is important to emphasise that before connecting the keyer to a radio station, two Figure 5. A collector’s item and a QRQ Figure 6. A low cost ‘utility’ paddle keyer parameters in the radio’s menu need chang- delight, this vintage Vibroplex paddle mounted on a plastic base. Great for ing: (1) turn off internal keyer; (2) turn off keyer is easy to adjust to your personal practicing and “getting up to speed” as the internal monitor. preferences and rock solid on its cast iron some say. Courtesy Anton Klok PA3AQV. The second way of connecting up is to pro- base. Courtesy Anton Klok PA3AQV. 30 02-2011 elektor
61002
61002 ATM18 EDUCARD Educational Expansion Board With handy general-purpose peripheral functions By Grégory Ester (France) This expansion card, which is designed to be used with the Elektor ATM18 board, should come in handy for all sorts of projects. The combination provides a platform that is very suitable for both rapid prototyping and educational use. Due to its suitability for educational applica- ATM18 board was described in the April board or to peripheral devices. For power- tions, we have dubbed this board ‘EduCard’. 2008 issue of Elektor and is available from ing the board, you can choose from a PCB The basic idea is very simple: each subsys- the Elektor Shop (item number 071035- terminal strip (K2) for use with an 8–12 V tem of the circuit (see the schematic dia- 2). Once you have the ATM18 board, you power source, a male PCB header (K1) or gram in ) provides a function that is often can immediately start developing the soft- female PCB headers (K3 and K4), all three of used in a wide variety of electronic systems. ware for your application. The modules fit which can be used with a 5 V power source. All inputs and outputs are brought out to together very nicely, and the result is some- If you aren’t overly fond of cutting and strip- PCB headers for easy access. The addresses, thing you can show with pride. ping short lengths of wire and you’re tired digital inputs and so on are configured by of seeing them break after being used just jumpers. Using a normal printer, you can Mating modules a few times, we have a handy tip for you. easily generate an overlay for the PCB with All of the PCB headers are located at the You can buy ready-made breadboard jump- appropriate signal names and I/O labels, edge of the PCB, so they can easily be ers from Sure [2] and save yourself time and which you can place on top of the board. marked with the appropriate signal names trouble. They are available in both male The link between the EduCard and the or I/O labels. This way you can see exactly and female versions (). All of the connec- ATM18 board requires only 19 leads. The which lines are connected to the ATM18 tions necessary to use this board properly 32 02-2011 elektor
61002 ATM18 EDUCARD VDD VDD VDD D2 VDD IC8 D4 7805 1 3 BAT85 R19 R18 R2 C4 D3 U_VAR IC4 VDD 1 P1 1N4001 K2 K1 2k2 2k2 10k VDD C6 100n 2 R1 R20 BAT85 3 6 C10 C9 C11 C1 C7 100n SCK VREFA SS(1) 2 8 0 0 10K CS VOUTA K8 56R 4 5 470u 100n 100n 100u IC1 1k SDI LDAC 16V 8 AVSS VDD 1 7 INT OSC0 INT D1 BT1 X1 6 SCL MCP4921 K7 7 SCL DC_OUT(1) 5 SDA SCK SCK CR2032 3V SDA 2 3 MOSI OSC1 A0 JP1 VDD 32.768kHz VSS MOSI SS(1) SS(2) PCF8583 4 U_VAR IC5 C5 1 VDD 100n VDD 3 SCK VREFA 6 K11 BUZZER K6 SS(2) 2 8 VDD CS VOUTA K9 4 5 SDI LDAC K12 DATA_LCD AVSS R21 R22 R23 R24 CLK_LCD VDD MCP4921 7 DC_OUT(2) VDD 1k 1k 1k 1k R9 C2 10k 100n K5 IC7 VDD SCL 1 3 JP10 JP11 16 JP8 JP9 SDA 2 R30 K16 VDD 2 INT 3 VDD SDA 15 4 DQ 4k7 SDA P0 DQ 4 SCL 14 IC2 5 SCL P1 OUT_IR 5 R5 R4 R3 6 P2 IC6 BUZZER 6 1 3 INT 13 7 DS18S20 10k 10k 10k INT P3 DATA_LCD 7 9 VDD P4 2 CLK_LCD 8 1 10 DQ A0 P5 C1 9 2 PCF8574 11 A1 P6 R25 R26 R27 R28 DQ C2 10 3 12 A2 P7 C3 11 1 JP4 JP3 JP2 DS18S20 VSS 1k 1k 1k 1k C4 12 R1 13 8 R2 14 R3 15 C1 C2 C3 C4 R4 16 R31 R32 R33 R34 JP12 JP13 JP14 JP15 470R 470R 470R 470R VDD VDD C3 S1 S2 S3 S4 K4 R10 VDD 1 2 3 F 100n R35 K15 150R R1 OUT_IR 470R R11 VDD VDD LD1 16 150R VDD S5 S6 S7 S8 3 8 VDD SDA 15 4 R12 10 R29 4 5 6 E CA CA SDA P0 a SCL 14 IC3 5 150R 9 R36 SCL P1 b R2 100R R8 R7 R6 6 R13 7 470R P2 c K14 INT 13 7 150R 5 10k 10k 10k INT P3 d S9 S10 S11 S12 9 R14 4 C8 P4 e 1 10 150R 2 7 8 9 D K3 A0 P5 f R37 100n K13 2 PCF8574 11 R15 1 470R R3 A1 P6 g 3 12 150R 6 A2 P7 dp JP7 JP6 JP5 VSS R16 S13 S14 S15 S16 GND 150R HDSP-315L A 0 B C 8 R17 R38 R4 150R 470R 100472 - 11 Figure 1. EduCard schematic diagram. with the ATM18 board are listed in Table 1 always know where to find it. The 1-Wire for easy reference. devices transmit their digital data over the Features bus. The device identifier is protected by a • 2 temperature sensors on 1-Wire bus Just one wire cyclic redundancy check (CRC) code to pre- • 2 DACs with SPI interface The 1-Wire bus was developed by Dallas vent address errors on the bus. • RC5 sensor Semiconductor and Maxim; it also goes by A free API called ‘TMEX’ is available from • Matrix keypad the name ‘MicroLAN bus’. The nice thing Dallas/Maxim. You can use the attractive • 7-segment LED display about this bus is that you can connect a iButton Viewer user interface to access • 8 digital inputs on I2C bus nearly unlimited number of I/O devices to and program all 1-Wire devices on the bus, • Real-time clock your board with just one twisted-pair cable, although in this case the ATM18 board looks which has a maximum length of several after this task for you. 1-Wire devices that • Potentiometer dozen metres. This is what is called a ‘multi- do not draw very much current can take • 5-V supply voltage drop’ system. Under certain conditions, the their operating power directly from the bus can be extended as far as 300 metres bus. This is called ‘parasitic power mode’, (1,000 ft.) or so. Each device on the bus and it utilises the fact that the signal level on ate in this mode. Connector K16 is provided has a unique 65-bit identification number. the bus is often in the High state, so a cur- to allow you to connect additional 1-Wire Another handy feature is that the ID num- rent of a few milliamperes flows through the devices. Although individual 1-Wire devices ber is marked on the device package, so you bus lead. The two sensors shown in oper- usually draw less than 100 μA, there is nat- elektor 02-2011 33
61002 ATM18 EDUCARD urally a limit to how many devices operat- ing in parasitic power mode can be con- nected to the bus. It is always possible to power some of the devices on the bus from a separate 3-V or 5-V power supply. Two DS1820 temperature sensors are present on the board as standard. Here we should mention that the DS18S20 as opposed to the DS1820, normally takes around 500 to 750 ms to convert a temperature reading to a bus signal. Figure 2. Ready-made breadboard jumpers. Everyone on the bus The Inter Integrated Circuit Bus, usually des- ignated ‘I2C bus’, was developed in the early 1980s by Philips for use in consumer electron- DS18S20 ics and home automation systems, in partic- 3 ular to provide a convenient way to link the 2 various circuits in modern television sets to a DQ microcontroller. Atmel and some other com- panies call this system ‘Two Wire Interface’. 1 The I2C bus is a synchronous bus with two to other leads plus ground. One lead is designated 1-Wire BUS 1-Wire DEVICES ‘SDA’ and carries the data, while the other lead is designated ‘SCL’ and carries the clock signal. Addressing is used to ensure that the 100742 - 14 data arrives where it is supposed to go. The EduCard has three components con- Figure 3. Basic operating principle of the 1-Wire bus. nected directly to an onboard I2C bus: two PCF8574 devices and one PCF8583. The PCF8574s provide two 8-bit digital I/O ports (one each) for general purpose use. One port drives a seven-segment display, while the other can be configured and used as 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 desired. It can be accessed via eight jump- ers (JP8–JP15). The PCF8583 contains a real time clock and calendar and is equipped with a backup battery (a CR2032 3 V lithium cell fitted in battery holder BT1). The appro- priate address assignments are listed in . Note that there is also an ‘A’ version of the PCF8574, which uses a different addressing scheme. Its most significant nibble is set to a fixed value of ‘0011’ binary (hex 7x). TOGGLE BIT Invisible remote control The RC5 standard for infrared data trans- mission is also a Philips invention. The START DEVICE COMMAND fourteen data bits are biphase coded 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 (Manchester coded) and available on 100742 - 13 pin 5 of connector K5. If you have a uni- versal remote control unit programmed for controlling a Philips television set (TV1 Figure 4. RC5 frame format. mode), pressing the ‘2’ button will cause 34 02-2011 elektor
61002 ATM18 EDUCARD Table 1. Connectors, jumpers and their functions. Function Connections Description Power K1, K2, K3, K4 5 VDC or 8 - 12 VDC external source; indicated by LED D1 Keypad K5 pins 9–16 C1, C2, C3, C4, R1, R2, R3, R4 K5 pins 1–3 SCL, SDA, INT I2C PCF8583 (IC1): RTC JP1 Address: on: A0 = 0; off: A0 = 1 K10 CR2032 button cell K5 pins 1–3 SCL, SDA, INT I2C PCF8574 (IC2): 8 digital inputs JP2, JP3, JP4 Address: A0, A1, A2 JP8–JP15 8 digital inputs: P0_E–P7_E K5 pins 1–3 SCL, SDA, INT JP5, JP6, JP7 Address: A0, A1, A2 I2C PCF8574 (IC3): 8 digital outputs The states of the 8 outputs are shown by 7 segments and deci- mal point of the 7-segment display. K7 pins 1–4 SCK, MOSI, SS(1) (IC4), SS(2) (IC5) SPI MCP4921 (IC4 and IC5): two DACs K8 and K9 DC_OUT1, DC_OUT2 (2 analogue outputs) 1-Wire DS1820 (IC6 and IC7): two digital tem- K16 pins 1–6 GND, DQ, GND, GND, DQ, GND perature sensors connected in parasitic power K5 pin 4 DQ mode K13, K14, K15 TSOP2236 to GND, VCC and OUT_IR RC5: infrared receiver K5 pin 5 OUT_IR output K11 and K12 Intended for buzzer (+ and GND) Buzzer K5 pin 6 Buzzer input Potentiometer K7 pin 5 Output range 0–5 V VDD, GND, DATA_LCD and CLK_LCD for driving the LCD modu- Two-line Elektor LCD module K6 pins 1–4 le; DATA_LCD and CLK_LCD are available on K5 pins 7 and 8 the waveform shown in to appear on the by five address bits to select the device that tors K8 and K9. The converter ICs are config- output connected to pin 5 of connector should execute the command, and finally ured as bus slaves and are enabled by pull- K5. The first two bits always have a value six bits corresponding to the pressed but- ing their Chip Select (CS) inputs Low. Data of ‘1’ and are used for synchronisation. ton (in this case ‘2’). from the microcontroller is clocked into the They are followed by a toggle bit, which Master Out Slave In (MOSI) input of each changes state when a button is pressed (or Analogue outputs converter by the clock signal on the SCK pressed again). This means that the tog- The EduCard has two 12-bit D/A converters line. The data is formatted as 16-bit words. gle bit stays the same as long as a button implemented with type MCP4921 ICs. The The first 4 bits contain configuration infor- is held pressed. The toggle bit is followed analogue outputs are available on connec- mation, while the remaining 12 bits contain Table 2. I2C device addresses. Component ADDRESS PCF8583 (IC1) : RTC 1 0 1 0 0 0 JP1 RW $A0 PCF8574 (IC2) : 8 inputs 0 1 0 0 JP4 JP3 JP2 RW $40 PCF8574 (IC3) : 8 outputs 0 1 0 0 JP7 JP6 JP5 RW $42 elektor 02-2011 35
61002 ATM18 EDUCARD Table 3. Connections between EduCard and ATM18 board. Function Educard ATM18 Two-line LCD module DATA_LCD, CLOCK_LCD PB2, PB1 Matrix Keyboard C1, C2, C3, C4, R1, R2, R3, R4 PD0, PD1, PD2, PD3, PD4, PD5, PD6, PD7 Buzzer BUZZER PC5 DS1820 (1-Wire) DQ PC4 RC5 (infrared) OUT_IR PC3 I2C SDA, SCL PB0, PC2 SPI SS(1), SS(2), MOSI, SCK PC0, PC1, PB3, PB5 CS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 (MODE 1,1) SCK (MODE 0,0) CONFIG BITS 12 DATA BITS SDI A/B BUF GA SHDN D11 D10 D9 D8 D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1I D0 100742 - 16 Figure 5. Two successive bytes on the SPI bus. the value to be converted (see ). Low), while the second parameter deter- figured to operate An SPI link supports four different operat- mines whether data is clocked in or out on in SPI mode 0, which ing modes depending on the values of two the first edge or the second edge of the means that the clock is parameters. The first parameter determines clock signal when after the CS input goes inactive when Low (polarity the clock polarity (active High or active active (Low). Here these converters are con- = Low) and data is transferred on first clock edge after CS goes Low. The data is transmitted with the most significant bit first (data order = MSB). A few other configu- ration settings are: /SHDN = 1 Disable sleep state A/B = 0 Write data to DACA; there is actually no other choice with only one DAC per IC BUF = 0 No buffer for VREF /GA = 1 Gain = 1; VOUT = (VREF × 1 × D)/4096 If D = 100011111111 (binary) = 2303 (deci- mal) and VREF = 5 V, the voltage at the output of the converter should therefore be 2.811 V. The glue The firmware is the glue that bonds all these components together. We generated the firmware using BASCOM-AVR 2.0.1.0, which has a solid track record. The firmware includes test routines for all of the components on the EduCard. shows what you should see on the display after Figure 6. What you should see on the power-up. Use the following procedure to display when you test your EduCard. prepare for testing the EduCard: 36 02-2011 elektor
61002 ATM18 EDUCARD • Connect the LCD module to K6 and the IC8 = 7805 buzzer to K11/K12 on the EduCard (the COMPONENT LIST LCD module was described in the May Resistors Miscellaneous 2008 issue of Elektor and is available R2–R9 = 10kΩ X1 = 32.768kHz quartz crystal R18,R19 = 2.2kΩ CR2032 Lithium button cell, 3 V from the Elektor Shop under item num- R20 = 56Ω S–S16 = pushbutton, PCB mount, push to ber 071035-93). make, e.g. SPNO-B3S series (Omron), Far- R1,R21–R28 = 1kΩ • Using 19 breadboard jumpers, connect nell # 118-1016 R10–R17 = 150Ω the EduCard to the ATM18 board as R31–R38 = 470Ω K2,K8,K9 = PCB solder pins or 2-way PCB ter- described in . R29 = 100 Ω minal block R30 = 4.7kΩ K1 = 2-pin pinheader, lead pitch 0.1’’ • Connect an external AC P1 = 10k horizontal, trimpot (2.54mm) power adapter to the K3,K4,K7 = 5-pin socket strip, lead pitch 0.1’’ ATM18 board. (2.54mm) Capacitors • Download C1 = 100μF 16V radial K6 = 4-pin socket strip, lead pitch 0.1’’ Development_ C2–C6,C8,C9,C11 = 100nF (2.54mm) K5 = 16-pin socket strip, lead pitch 0.1’’ Board_Test. C7 = 22pF trimmer or 22pF capacitor C10 = 470μF 25V radial (2.54mm) hex to the K10 = PCB mounting for CR2032 cell flash K11-K12 = DC buzzer, 5 V/4 kHz Semiconductors mem- D1 = LED, low current, green K13-K14-K15 = TSOP2236 or equivalent ory. LD1 = 7-segment display, Avago type K16 = 6-pin socket strip, lead pitch 0.1’’ HDSP-315L (2.54mm) D2,D3 = BAT85, Schottky diode JP1–JP15 = 2-pin pinheader with jumper, lead After this, pitch 0.1’’ (2.54mm) D4 = 1N4001 the board can be 3 pcs 8-pin DIL IC socket IC1 = PCF8583 tested using the following IC2,IC3 = PCF8574 2 pcs x 16- pin DIL IC socket procedure: IC4,IC5 = MCP4921 PCB, # 100742-1 (see [1]) IC6,IC7 = DS18S20+ 1. The following message should appear on the LCD: ‘LCD TEST OK’. 2. Matrix keyboard test: press ‘F’ to proceed to this test. 3. PCF8574: the segments of the seven-seg- ment LED should light up in sequence. If the value read is ‘255’, which means that jumper positions JP8 and JP9 are both open, the routine proceeds to the next test. 4. PCF8583: the display shows the date (DD/MM format) and time (e.g. 20/10 11:59:55). At 12:00:00 the routine pro- ceeds to the next test. 5. RC5 mode TV1: press the ‘0’ button on the remote control unit (which must be configured in TV1 mode) to proceed to the next test. 6. 1-Wire: the serial numbers of the two temperature sensors are displayed. Press ‘8’ on the remote control to proceed to the next test. [1] www.elektor.com/100742 7. DAC via SPI: write ‘2048’ to DAC1 and If your EduCard passes all of these tests, it is [2] www.sureelectronics.net/goods. ‘2303’ to DAC2. With VREF = 4.96 V, the working properly. php?id=841 measured values should be 2.480 V on K8 (100742-I) and 2.789 V on K9. 8. Finally, use a voltmeter to measure U_ VAR. Adjust P1 to vary the voltage. Internet Links elektor 02-2011 37
61002 GEOLOCALIZATION Geolocalization without GPS Where am I? Where am I headed? By Clemens Valens (Elektor France Editor) These days, the simplest way to find out your geographical position is to use a GPS receiver or ‘satnav’. A GPS (let’s drop the ‘receiver’) is accurate and works anywhere in the world. GPSs are getting smaller and smaller and performing better and better, and new applications are constantly being found for them. But in spite of how powerful it is, the GPS is not the solution to every geolocalization problem. Where the signals from the GPS satellites can’t get through properly, like indoors or in places surrounded by tall buildings, GPS receivers won’t work correctly. Luckily, there are other solutions. As we’ve often seen in TV detective series, context, real time means periodically). and thereby deduce the ship’s heading. By it is indeed possible to find someone’s posi- Hence this excludes those systems that use, adding a compass card to it, it becomes a tion using their mobile phone. Knowing the for example, RFID tags or barcodes to track real compass, making it possible to read the positions of the cellphone network towers the position of an object or beacon systems ship’s heading off directly. (‘repeaters’) with which it is in contact, we that make it possible to find an object by Speed measurement arrived with the inven- can find out roughly where the telephone is. means of a mobile beacon detector. tion of the ship’s log. These two elements, And if these repeaters are able to compare heading and speed, allow dead-reckoning between them the strength or the arrival A short history of geolocalization navigation, but this still wasn’t accurate time of the phone signals, it’s even possi- Before launching into a description of LPS, enough for longer voyages. ble to get a quite accurate estimate of the its worth taking a little trip back into his- In 1759, an Englishman, John Harrison, position. tory, for the navigation techniques we use invented the marine chronometer, capa- today were developed for the first mariners ble of keeping accurate time during It works the other way round too. If the who sailed the seas and oceans. long months aboard a ship. This allowed mobile phone has a database containing Until the 15th century, sea journeys were improved accuracy for these navigational the positions of the repeater stations, it can almost always coastal: they would sail from approaches and significantly reduced the calculate its own position using the signals port to port without every getting too far risk of running aground. With this kind of transmitted by the repeaters nearby. The away from the coast. They navigated by timepiece, you are able to measure the operators take advantage of this technique observing the stars, the wind, the sea, the longitude by using the principle of time to offer automatic pedestrian guidance or land, and the behaviour of birds and sea differential. local information services. mammals. Basic tools like the star chart Later, the accuracy of these methods was (used by the Arabs) or a wind rose (in the improved and calculation methods refined. And what works with mobile phones and Mediterranean) made it possible to formal- First employed during the First World War, repeater stations can also be used with ize good practice a little. the gyroscopic compass made it possible to other wireless communication systems like get around the difficulties encountered with Wi-Fi, ZigBee, or Bluetooth networks. GPS In the Northern hemisphere, the Pole Star both the declination of the Earth’s mag- works all over the world — it’s a global sys- allows “constant latitude” navigation; in the netism, and the influence of metal masses tem (remember that GPS stands for Global Southern hemisphere, they managed using present aboard ships, which distorted and Positioning System); in the same vein, a other stars and constellations. Then the first complicated the measurements. positioning system using a local network instruments capable of measuring the angle The Second World War led to the emer- is called a Local Positioning System or LPS. of a star made an appearance: the kamal, gence of devices exploiting radio waves, In this article, we’re going to be taking a the cross-staff (‘Jacob’s staff’), the nautical like radar and so-called ‘hyperbolic’ radio look at some systems that make it possi- astrolabe, the quadrant, the octant, and navigation systems like GEE, LORAN, and ble to locate an object (or person) at any lastly the sextant. These instruments make DECCA. These made possible an accuracy moment, i.e. in real time, and anywhere it possible to calculate the latitude with suit- varying between a few metres and a few within the area covered by the cellphone able precision. kilometres. Then they in turn were sup- network. This type of system is known as By the late 12th century, the lodestone was planted by more accurate satellite position- Real Time Location System or RTLS (in this already being used to find magnetic North ing systems. 38 02-2011 elektor
61002 GEOLOCALIZATION The first GPS satellite was launched in 1978 2,500 years ago, when it was used by the requires the angle of incidence (Angle of by the United States. The current system Greek philosopher and astronomer Thales Arrival or AoA) of a radio signal to be meas- comprises 30 satellites orbiting at an alti- of Miletus to measure (with surprising accu- ured. This can be done using several anten- tude of 20,200 km. The Russian equivalent racy) the radius of the Earth’s orbit around nas placed side by side (an array of anten- GLONASS, comprises, at the time of writ- the Sun. It allows an observer to calculate nas, for example, Figure 2) and to measure ing, 26 satellites (20 of them operational) their position by measuring two direc- the phase difference between the signals in orbits at 19,130 km. Europe is lagging tions towards two reference points. Since received by the antennas. If the distance behind with Galileo, supposed to be oper- ational in 2014, but so far, no satellite has been placed into orbit. Satellite positioning systems offer great accuracy, to the nearest metre, or even better. C Triangulation, trilateration, or multilateration? β L sin(α) sin(β) LPS and GPS (not just the US system) both A d L d= use several transmitters to enable a receiver sin(α+β) to calculate its geographical position. Sev- eral techniques are possible, each with its advantages and drawbacks. The important α thing in all these techniques is the notion of a direct path (Line of Sight or LoS). In effect, B 100809 - 12 if the transmitter signal has not taken the shortest path to the receiver, the distance Figure 1. Triangulation: you are at A, from where you can see B and C. If you know their between them calculated by the receiver geographical positions, you can find out your own position with the help of a compass. will be incorrect, since the receiver does not Oh yes you can! know the route taken by the radio signal. Three mathematical techniques are usu- ally used for calculating the position of a receiver from signals received from several the positions of the reference points are between the antennas is small, the inci- transmitters: triangulation, trilateration, known, it is hence possible to construct a dent front of the signal may be considered and multilateration. The last two are very triangle where one of the sides and two of as straight, and the calculation of the angle similar, but should not be confused. the angles are known, with the observer at will be fairly accurate. the third point. This information is enough Triangulation to define the triangle completely and hence It’s also possible to use a directional Triangulation (Figure 1) is a very ancient deduce the position of the observer. antenna to determine the position of a technique, said to date from over Using triangulation with transmitters transmitter. The antenna orientation pro- elektor 02-2011 39
61002 GEOLOCALIZATION C P d A touch). This explains why a GPS needs to ‘see’ at least four satellites to work. Multilateration Using a single receiver listening to the sig- ANT ANT 100809 - 14 100809 - 13 B nals (pulses, for example) from two syn- chronized transmitters, it is possible to measure the difference between the arrival times (Time Difference of Arrival or TDoA) Figure 2. An antenna array makes it Figure 3. The length of the arrows of the two signals at the receiver. Then the possible to measure the angle of incidence corresponds to the arrival time at principle is similar to trilateration, except of a radio signal, and hence its direction. receiver P of the signals broadcast by that we no longer find ourselves on a cir- three transmitters A, B, and C. It forms a cle or a sphere, but on a hyperbola (2D) or measurement of the distances between the transmitters and the receiver. a hyperboloid (3D). Here too, we need four transmitters to enable the receiver to calcu- late its position accurately. The advantage of multilateration is that ducing the strongest signal indicates the circle (for simplicity, let’s confine ourselves the receiver doesn’t need to know at what direction of the transmitter. All you then to two dimensions and ideal transmission instant the signals were transmitted — have to do is take two measurements from conditions) with the transmitter at the cen- hence the receiver doesn’t need to be syn- known transmitters in order to be able to tre. Not very accurate. It gets better with chronized with the transmitters. The sig- apply triangulation. two transmitters — now there are only two nals, and hence the electronics, can be kept positions possible: the two points where the simple. The LORAN and DECCA systems, for Trilateration circles around the two transmitters inter- example, work like this. This technique requires the distance sect. Adding a third transmitter enables us between the receiver and transmitter to to eliminate one of these two possibilities LPS using Wi-Fi and RSSI be measured. This can be done using a (Figure 4). With the advent of Wi-Fi, we now find radio Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), or networks everywhere, and some people else from the time of arrival (ToA, or Time When we extend trilateration to three have had the idea of using these wireless of Flight, ToF, Figure 3) of the signal, pro- dimensions, the circles become spheres. networks to make an LPS. Often in these vided that the receiver and transmitter are Now we need to add one more transmitter cases the ‘L’ of local is limited to a building synchronized — for example, by means of a in order to find the position of the receiver, or just a few rooms. These projects almost common timebase, as in GPS. as the intersection of two spheres is no all use the RSSI signal strength indicator, Thus, when receiving a signal from a single longer at two points, but is a circle (assum- available in the majority of receivers. The transmitter, we can situate ourselves on a ing we ignore the trivial point when they energy in a radio signal from a transmitter broadcasting uniformly in all directions is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the transmitter (in effect, the area of a sphere is equal to 4πr²). Hence the C further we are from the transmitter, the weaker the signal. So the RSSI signal gives us a measure of the distance between the P2 P receiver and the transmitter, and thus can A A A be used for trilateration. B B In reality, RSSI trilateration is not as simple P1 as that, as the RSSI signal is not accurate enough. Already, the manner in which the RSSI depends on the intensity of the radio A B C signal is not necessarily inversely propor- 100809 - 11 tional to the square of the distance from the transmitter, and in addition, the RSSI Figure 4. Two-dimensional trilateration. In 3D, another transmitter has to be added in is influenced by obstacles like partitions or order to determine a position unambiguously. ceilings. 40 02-2011 elektor
61002 GEOLOCALIZATION One way of remedying this is to map the RSSI over the whole area where the posi- tioning system is required to operate. Microsoft’s RADAR project uses this prin- ciple. The receiver measures the RSSI and then searches for the position that best matches on the map (or in a table). To improve the chances of getting the right position, the system takes account of the recent history of the receiver’s movements and the environmental factors that have a direct influence on the RSSI map, like the Figure 5. Wi-Fi coverage in and around the author’s house, drawn with the help of the HeatMapper software. It’s surprising to discover that the neighbours have a hidden Wi-Fi number of people present or the ambient AP in their garden (‘hidden’ means that the SSID is concealed)! temperature. You can watch an animation about RADAR on the Internet [1]. To pro- duce this animation (based on actual meas- urements), it was necessary to ensure that Ekahau, a company spawned by research at ducing a map of the Wi-Fi coverage in your the receiver was at all times receiving at Helsinki University (Finland), is offering a home, based on the RSSI. On a grid or with least four Wi-Fi transmitters (access points). free software application [2] for easily pro- the help of a previously-prepared plan, the Advertisement Fundamental Amplifier Techniques ! N EW with Electron Tubes The ultimate tube amplifier reference book! The aim of this book is to give the reader useful knowledge about electron tube technology in the application of audio amplifiers, including their power supplies, for the design and DIY construction of these electron tube amplifiers. This is much more than just building an electron tube amplifier from a schematic made from the design from someone else: not only academic theory for scientific evidence, but also a theoretical explanation of how the practice works. No modern simulations, but THUMP because you first understand the circuit calculations, then you can work with your 800+ pages! hands to build the circuit and last, but not least, if you have a multimeter, a signal generator and an oscilloscope, you can measure the 834 pages (hard cover) circuit parameters yourself to see that theory and ISBN 978-0-905705-93-4 practice are very close. That is the aim, and makes this £65.00 • US $104.90 book a unique reference source. Further information and ordering at www.elektor.com/shop elektor 02-2011 41
61002 GEOLOCALIZATION WPS One means of exploiting Wi-Fi access points (APs) for geolocalization on a larger scale has been developed by Skyhook [6]. As Google is currently busy doing for its Street View project, Skyhook too is sending cars out to go around towns, but looking for Wi-Fi APs. The geo- graphical positions of the APs and their names (SSIDs) are stored in a database, which already contains over 250 million APs! In this way, the company has created the Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS). In order to find out your position, all you have to do is send the WPS the APs ‘seen’ by your computer or mobile phone. The database will tell you (roughly) where you are. To improve the system, the geographical positions of phone network relay antennas have also been entered into the database. According to the company, the accuracy of the WPS varies between 10 and 20 metres (30 and 60 feet). software (which weighs in at a hefty 100 MB racy of 30 cm (12 in.) and reading distances — it’s hard to understand why it should be up to 100 m (300 ft.). so huge?) plots a brightly-coloured image while you walk around your home with your One RTLS based on ZigBee is being sold by computer (Figure 5). You can then use this Awarepoint [5]. In this system, a building plot for experimenting with a robot fitted is fitted with detectors and their position with a Wi-Fi receiver that provides the RSSI. is indicated on a plan. Objects to be moni- tored are fitted with a beacon that sends out Some commercial LPSs a signal periodically — every five seconds if Several companies market LPSs or RTLSs the beacon is moving, or every minute if it is based on wireless networks. RTLSs are stationary. The detectors then use this sig- standardized in ISO/IEC 24730. They are nal to accurately determine the location of often used for tracking objects or per- the beacon. The position is reported back sons (like Big Brother). In this scenario, the to the central unit, where the database of receiver position is not determined for navi- Figure 6. This RTLS Wi-Fi tag (802.11 b/g/n) all the objects being monitored can be con- gating around, but so it can be transmitted attached to an object makes it possible to sulted. The grid network of detectors also to a master system. Hospitals, for example, locate it with a range of around 50 m (150 monitors the RF conditions and is auto- are very keen on these types of system to ft.) indoors and up to 150 m (450 ft.) in matically adapted when the environment avoid losing track of their patients or equip- free field. changes. ment. Here are a few examples. (100809-I) Ekahau RTLS [3], the flagship product of the Zebra Technologies [4] is the owner of Ekahau company mentioned above, uses WhereNet, which markets the WhereLAN Internet Links Wi-Fi to determiner the position of persons RTLS. This product is compatible with and objects. The system works broadly like Wi-Fi, but adds proprietary access points [1] research.microsoft.com/en-us/ Microsoft’s RADAR, using RSSI mapping, that use the difference in the radio signal um/people/bahl/MS_Projects/ but has been extended with, among other arrival time (DToA), instead of the RSSI sig- RadarDemo/demo.htm things, the notions of ‘problematic paths’ nal. WhereLAN complies with the ISO/IEC [2] www.ekahau.com/products/ (an object cannot pass through walls) and 24730-2 standard. heatmapper/overview.html ‘relevant places’ (an object cannot be at multiple places at the same time). More Zebra also offers a proprietary ultra-wide- [3] www.ekahau.com than anything, this makes it possible to limit band (UWB) radio technique: Dart UWB. [4] zes.zebra.com/technologies/ the calculation power needed, since the sys- This system works like a radar with tran- location/index.jsp tem itself is capable of tracking thousands sponders. A network of transmitters sends [5] www.awarepoint.com of objects at once. The manufacturer also short pulses of UWB electromagnetic sells Wi-Fi tags to allow remote tracking of energy to ‘wake up’ active RFID tags so they [6] www.skyhookwireless.com the movements of an object or person. can then be read. This system offers accu- 42 02-2011 elektor
61002 Here comes the Bus! (2) By Jens Nickel Readers whose memories stretch back to our previous issue access of the bus master to the slave’s I/O pins. The most sig- will recall that in the first part of this series our small but highly nificant of these is that the master must know exactly how each effective team decided that electrically the ElektorBus would slave is wired. For example, if a slave includes a temperature be based on the RS-485 standard, operating over a twisted sensor, the master must somehow know how to convert a raw pair. To provide reliable communications each of our bus par- A/D converter reading into a temperature value. It also makes ticipants needs to be able to send and receive data. The bus is for a lot of bus transactions. Consider, for example, the task of wired as shown in Figure 1, which is based on a Maxim applica- raising a roller blind until a limit switch is actuated. The con- tion note [1]. The screenshot on the next page shows how not versation between master and slave might go something like to do it. this: “Set port pin PB5 High.” “Done that.” “Now, is port pin PC1 High?” “No.” “How With all bus nodes con- CHARACTERISTIC IMPEDANCE = Z 0 about now?” “Yes.” nec ted to the same TERMINATING RESISTOR TERMINATING RESISTOR “Okay, take port pin PB5 RT = Z0 TWISTED PAIR RT = Z0 pair of wires, the obvi- Low at once.” ous six t y-four thou- RT RT sand pound question is: So as you can imagine how do we make sure this idea was rapidly sent that only one bus node on its way to the shred- KEEP AS SHORT KEEP AS SHORT is talking at any given der. After all, what we AS POSSIBLE AS POSSIBLE DATA IN DATA IN DATA IN time? Unlike the CAN have is more of an inter- bus standard, the RS-485 microcontroller commu- standard does not spec- DATA OUT DATA OUT DATA OUT nications protocol aimed if y a mechanism for at a certain narrow range detecting collisions, and of applications than a TRANSCEIVER #1 TRANSCEIVER #2 TRANSCEIVER # n without such a mecha- true bus system. In my nism we are in danger of 1 100864 - 11 mind’s eye I was pictur- losing data. ing a fully-fledged home automation system, with As you might suspect, the slaves having at least we spent some time dis- a modicum of intelli- cussing the problem, gence. This means that coming up with several MASTER SLAVE 1 SLAVE 2 a node should for exam- alternative solutions. ple translate a raw A/D converter reading into a The simplest approach physical quantity so that is to make one of the different types of sensor, “Slaves, I’m listening to your input” nodes the boss, with converter and microcon- the underlings simply troller can be mixed on doing what they are told “Temperature exceeds threshold here” the same bus without and speaking only when “Slave 2, then execute your the bus master needing spoken to. The master- program [window shutter down]” to know the details. It “Window shutter closed!” slave arrangement has 100864 - 13 would also be desirable the advantage that the 2 to implement simple E-LABs INSIDE slave nodes can be kept control loops running very simple and to a within the slave (of the large extent standardised, which in turn relieves the developer form ‘set output X low until input Y goes high’), which would be of a considerable burden: all the nodes can use the same micro- enough to cover cases such as the roller blind example above. controller, and even be running identical firmware. The master simply issues commands like ‘take port pin PB5 High’, or ‘take It also seemed at first sight to be a little impractical to have the a reading from ADC1 and send it to me’. The software in the slaves only send messages on request. When values need to be slave microcontrollers then simply has to parse the commands monitored, this means that the master must interrogate the (of which there need only be a few different types) and then suit slave on a regular basis, which, besides feeling inelegant, might the action to the word). result in latencies unacceptably great for applications such as However (as you might have guessed from the length of this alarm systems. In my vision of the bus system (Figure 2) the article), there are some serious downsides to this quasi-direct master can go into a ‘listen mode’, waiting for a range of events elektor 02-2011 43
61002 such as ‘input 2 on slave 1 has gone low’ or ‘temperature at entation on ‘Time-triggered CAN’ [3]. slave #3 has gone over 100 °C’. By design these events should The advantages of a time-slice architecture were very seductive, be relatively rare, which will help minimise the number of col- but the details involved in synchronisation would be fiddly. I also lisions on the bus. felt that it would be difficult to get such a system up and run- ning with a reasonable amount of development and debugging “That should be enough for a modest home automation sys- time, both for us and for our readers. tem,” said my French colleague Clemens, “but what else could we do with the bus?” “All right then,” said Cle- “Well,” I said, “we could mens, “what about using provide a ‘fast transmit some sort of scheduler?” mode’ to allow rapid This would allocate to point-to-point commu- SCHEDULER JUNCTION 2 JUNCTION 3 each of the other nodes nications.” That would a time to speak based on allow us to send rapidly- the importance of what changing data to the it might have to say, with master, at least from one “Junction 2, please transmit!” the nodes being sched- of the slaves. “Temperature okay” uled in order of decreas- “Junction 3, your turn now” “Nothing to report” ing priority. “Something It was obvious to us both “Junction 2, back to you” like a pre-emptive mul- that in this situation the “Temperature too high here” titasking scheduler,” he “Junction 2, I need to know more” bus would not be avail- “Temperature is 32 degrees C” explained. 100864 - 14 able for other activi- ties and that we could 3 I had to concede that in some circumstances this approach to colli- miss important event notifications from other nodes. “We sion avoidance was not bad, even though it was almost exactly need some kind of prioritisation on the bus,’ said Clemens, ‘we the opposite of what I had originally envisaged. Nevertheless, need nodes that are workers, under-managers, over-managers, the problem still remained of how the scheduler could stop a under-over-managers, over-under-managers...” So, like the CAN node from talking if the bus was needed for something more bus in a car, where (in the fullest sense of the word) vital data important. can always get through? The solution to this came to “And what happens,” asked Cle- me somewhat later: each node mens, warming to his point, would only be allowed to send “when we have more than one a fixed number of bytes before node making decisions? In your having to give way to the next design only the master collects node (Figure 3). If a node reports data, but if all the nodes have a higher-priority event, the access to all data packets, there scheduler would then give it per- isn’t really a single master any mission to speak. All we needed more.” to do now was to try out these fine ideas to see if they would Oh my giddy aunt, I thought to actually work in practice... myself, things are starting to (100864) move quickly. If the nodes are allowed to talk to other nodes What do you think? Feel free to without going via the master, write to us with your opinions then we are getting close to and ideas. designing a network that can tolerate faulty nodes. How do E-LABs INSIDE we stop the nodes from chat- tering away uncontrollably to one another on the bus? “How about allocating defined time-slices?” suggested Clemens, “though that would of course put a limit on the number of devices we could support simultaneously.” [1] http://www.maxim-ic.com/app-notes/index.mvp/id/763 There followed an hour of furious googling and sending one [2] http://www.patent-de.com/20030320/DE10126339A1.htm another links. We discovered, for example, a Siemens patent on (in German) a time-slice-controlled symmetric bus architecture which could [3] http://www-lar.deis.unibo.it/people/crossi/files/SCD/An%20In- be used for sending home-automation commands at the same troduction%20to%20TTCAN.pdf time as multimedia data streams [2]. Also of interest was a pres- 44 02-2011 elektor
61002 Design tips for instrumentation amplifiers By Ton Giesberts (Elektor Labs) keep an eye on? When choosing the opamp, do you have to make a distinction between Many Elektor readers AC and DC applications? Also, when does faithfully keep all their it make sense to use a chopper-stabi- old issues and also fre- lised opamp? What is the maximum quently refer back to accuracy that can be obtained in them when search- practice?” ing for a circuit for a particular application. For these types of ques- Younger readers have tions there is one designer now also discovered how in the Elektor lab who spe- to find these older circuits, cialises in this subject: because these are often of Ton Giesberts! excellent quality and are still relevant to build (for those When designing instru- who are interested: have a mentation amplifiers, a look at the DVD Elektor 1990 number of criteria are impor- through 1999). We frequently tant in order to facilitate the correct receive comments and questions selection of the opamps to be used in it. Criteria that about these old publications. This come to mind are common-mode range, input offset, tempera- is how Elektor reader Marcus Fiese- ture dependence of the input offset, bias current, temperature ler used the circuit from the ‘Univer- dependence of the bias current, bandwidth and power supply sal instrumentation amplifier’ from January 1992 as the basis range. For battery-powered circuits the choice will quickly nar- for his own measuring circuit. While he was experimenting he row to rail-to-rail types. However, with many of the opamps of came up with a number of questions: “I would really like to this type, the characteristics of the amplifier change when oper- know how to dimension an instrumentation amplifier. What ating close to the supply rail. When used in accurate measuring are the criteria when selecting an opamp and what are the systems this is something that certainly has to be taken into most important specifications in the datasheet that I need to account. In these situations you could consider using an invert- C37 15V re5 VOA+ R25 100n 15k C23 C24 1N4148 R20 2W5 R31 C13 0V2 10 C18 100n B 25V 1M 1k5 R27 15p 100n R33 re6 D3 1k8 A 2V A 8k2 R36 C36 R21 3k9 C14 R26 1 R34 IC7 3 7 IC8 100k 1k 8 4k7 1 6 2 7 80p 33p * E-LABs INSIDE re7 IC6 R32 8 R37 1 20V 2 6 2 7 33k OP27 680 B A 8 R22 4 3 6 C15 D4 C19 5 OP64 4 3 10k (A) P3 P4 1n 100n 4 re8 200V 1k 1k 1N4148 TLC2201CP MT MT A (OPA602AP) C16 * C17 R23 R24 VOA- R28 R29 R30 C20 R35 R38 C22 C21 1k 1k2 15k 1k5 2k7 10 180 560 100n 8n2 820p 330n 25V (A) A 15V elektor 02-2011 45
61002 ing amplifier as input amplifier. There are then also no problems When the instrumentation amplifier functions as the front-end the with common-mode dependency of some characteristics. for an A/D converter, then the amount of noise determines the maximum resolution of the A/D converter. If you want a band- With some opamps, in particular the bipolar types, the bias cur- width that’s as large as is possible, then you will quickly bump rent depends on the common-mode voltage at the inputs. In a into the theoretical noise of the amplifier stages and not in the non-inverting amplifier there is a greater chance that the output last place the impedance of the voltage divider for the meas- voltage deviates, depending on the values of the resistors used. uring ranges, too. The noise of a resistor is determined by the This results in distortion with AC voltage signals, and with DC well-known formula √(4KTBR). For example, let’s take a resis- voltage measurements a gain that appears to change with the tor as a noise source and an 8-bit A/D-converter. With a 1 V change in input voltage. This is nowhere to be found in most reference and a desired bandwidth of 1 MHz, the value of the datasheets. resistor may amount up to 115 MΩ. Above that the noise will clearly exceed 1 LSB. With this calculation we have assumed A good example of where this information is provided in the ‘sine-shaped’ noise and have divided the size of the resolu- form of a chart (BIAS AND OFFSET CURRENT vs INPUT COM- tion by 2√2 (peak-to-peak). We’ll ignore for the moment that MON-MODE VOLTAGE) is the OPA111 from Burr-Brown (Texas the noise can have bigger peaks in practice. It’s a good idea to Instruments these days). But with a maximum bias current choose the impedance of the voltage divider as half the calcu- of 1 pA this is not a problem in most applications. When lated value or even lower. We will also assume for the moment we look at an OP27, where the bias current can amount to that the voltage divider is not frequency compensated. For the several tens of nA (and because of internal bias correction resistor R we have this can be either positive or negative), then we can expect a problem with DC voltage stability when using larger val- R = ((Vref / 2N) / 2√2)2 / (4 × 1.38 x 10-23 × 300 × 1 × 106) ues of resistors. Because of noise it is better to choose lower impedances, and you will then also have less of a problem where 300 K = T; 1.38 x 10-23 = Boltzmann constant K, and N is with DC voltage variation due to bias current. Very good opa- the number of bits. mps are available for extremely stable DC voltage measure- For 12 bits a resistance of up to 450 kΩ is allowed, at 16 bits, ments, such as the OPA177, a device with an offset of only 1.76 kΩ and at 24 bits, just 26.8 mΩ (with a 1 kHz bandwidth 25 μV (F-type). this equates to 26.8 Ω). Clearly, with a resolution of 12 bits and an even higher bandwidth — for example a digital oscilloscope For even more accurate DC voltage measurements you could and a 10:1-probe — a certain amount of noise will be visible. In consider using chopper-stabilised opamps. Devices such as the the active parts there is further contribution to the noise level TLC2654 or ICL7650 have and offset of less than5 μV. There are mainly from the first amplifier stage. also related models such as the AD8551 from Analog Devices, However, in practice, the frequency compensation will be which possess a special auto-correction circuit (this one has an around 10 kHz, for example 1 MΩ and 15 pF. If we calculate offset of only 1 μV). Their disadvantage however is that none of the number of bits, only taking the noise contribution from the these are particularly fast amplifiers. With chopper-stabilised voltage divider: opamps it’s recommended to stay at least a factor of 10 below the chopper frequency. This is perhaps the reason why there are Vref / 2N = 3.64 x 10-5. so few chopper-stabilised opamps (for example, the MAX420 and ICL7650 have disappeared from the Maxim line-up). These From this follows 2N = 27474 or N = (log10 27474 / log10 2) = days there are also normal opamps with equal, if not better, 14.75 bits. specifications. Add to this the noise from the amplifiers and the chaotic nature More bandwidth is usually a trade-off with reduced DC volt- of noise, you soon realise why the resolution of those top of the age stability, so you need to strike a compromise. There are range oscilloscopes is usually around 12 bits. now opamps that have a bandwidth of several 100 MHz. If a lot of gain and good linearity are required, then you could When using microcontrollers for taking measurements of sen- consider dividing the gain across two or more separate sors, you could even use the noise to your advantage to obtain stages. The overall bandwidth will be greater for any given a higher resolution than that of the internal A/D converter. By E-LABs INSIDE gain. For the total gain this has the disadvantage that the using a considerable amount of oversampling and averaging accuracy is reduced by about 2 % with each stage when using you can obtain a much more accurate measurement. In addi- 1 % tolerance resistors. An amplifier stage will now need to tion, software offers the possibilities of correcting non-lineari- have a potentiometer added to allow for calibration. The ties and other defects. But that is a different story. impulse response of the total amplifier is also more com- (100812-I) plex. When searching for the right opamp it is often difficult to find the desired impulse response. It is usually necessary to use frequency compensation in the feedback circuit (or Internet Links some other method). With multiple amplifier stages it is nec- essary to tune the individual frequency compensations with www.analog.com/library/analogDialogue/archives/39-05/ each other. And then we haven’t even mentioned frequency Web_ChH_final.pdf compensated voltage dividers with multiple ranges. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operational_amplifier 46 02-2011 elektor
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61002 INFRARED THERMOMETER Contactless Thermometer Are you running an infrared temperature? By Christian Tavernier (France) It’s easy these days to find several cheap sensors for contactless thermometers, also called infrared thermometers. These sensors, which measure the infrared radiation from objects, make it possible to build a contactless thermometer yourself with performance easily as good as its commercial counterparts. Technical specifications • Infra-red detecting thermometer • PIC16F876A microcontroller • Four line × 20 character LCD display • Displays ambient and object temperatures • Stores minimum and maximum temperatures • Runs off two 1.5 V cells • Open-source software Our thermometer measures at the same mometer automatically remembers the This IC, which comes in a metal TO-39 pack- time both the ambient temperature and the maximum and minimum temperatures of age with a window, should not be regarded temperature of any object placed within its objects, and displays everything on a backlit as just any old temperature sensor, like a ‘field of view’. And even though the ambi- LCD display with four lines of 20 characters. thermistor, for example, as it includes a ent temperature range ‘only’ goes from −40 Thanks to the sensor used, it only needs two whole load of processing and shaping cir- to +125 °C, the object temperature can be ICs: a perfectly ordinary PIC microcontroller cuitry (Figure 1). from −70 to +380 °C, and all with an accu- and a switching regulator to power it. The sensor proper is an infrared thermopile racy of 0.5 °C and a measurement resolu- (or two, depending on the IC version) that tion of 0.02 °C. MLX90614 sensor delivers a very low, non-linear signal which In order to be self-contained and portable, The sensor we’ve chosen is the MLX90614 would thus be difficult to use directly. This it runs off batteries or rechargeable cells, from Melexis, and it’s this that gives our signal is first amplified by a chopper-stabi- and for even greater convenience, our ther- thermometer its excellent performance. lized opamp. It is then converted to digi- 48 02-2011 elektor
61002 INFRARED THERMOMETER OPA ADC DSP PWM t° tal in a delta-sigma type converter before 81101 STATE MACHINE being applied to a digital signal processor (DSP). After noise filtering and sensor sig- Voltage nal processing performed by this DSP, the Regulator 90302 temperature information is available in a directly-usable digital form. 100707 - 12 To simplify interfacing, the sensor can pro- vide this information via a 2-wire SMBus (virtually identical to the I²C) or in the form Figure 1. Internal block diagram of the MLX90614 sensor. of a PWM (pulsewidth modulated) signal. Although the latter mode does make it simpler to connect up the MLX90614, the 1 7 1 1 8 1 1 7 1 1 PWM signals are trickier to process than S Slave Address Wr A Command A Sr Slave Address Rd A those from the SMBus. What’s more, the resolution in PWM mode is only 0.14 °C, as against 0.02 °C in SMBus mode. Depending on the version, this IC runs off a 8 1 8 1 8 1 1 single power rail of either 3 V or 5 V, so you Data Byte Low A Data Byte High A PEC A P need to pay great attention to which 100707 - 13 type you’ve got before fitting it into this circuit — we nearly learnt the hard way… Figure 2. Principle of one of the sensor’s RAM read frames. Talking to the sensor If we decide to communi- Table 1. The main commands for reading the temperatures. cate with the sensor in Command Code (hexadecimal) SMBus mode — which Raw ambient temperature 0x03 is what we’ve done Temperature, IR sensor 1 0x04 in our thermometer — the syntax to be Temperature, IR sensor 2 0x05 used is relatively Linearized ambient temperature 0x06 simple, provided Linearized sensor 1 temperature 0x07 we don’t want to Linearized sensor 2 temperature 0x08 modify the internal parameters, which are factory-set but perfectly suit- able for our needs. To read the ambient we call the 15-bit word output N, and given fortunately PIC microcontrollers with an I²C temperature and the temperature of the the sensor resolution in SMBus mode, the interface are able to handle, as long as we objects the sensor is aimed at, all you have measured temperature T expressed in K is correctly program one bit in one of the con- to do is read from two different locations given by: trol registers in their MSSP interface. in its internal RAM, which is done using an T = 0.02 × N SMBus frame similar to the one in Figure 2. Thermometer circuit After sending the sensor its slave address, But as it’s more user-friendly to read a tem- Clearly, the sensor’s high degree of integra- all you then have to do is send it a com- perature in degrees centigrade (Celsius), tion simplifies the circuit of our thermome- mand, chosen from those proposed in the thermometer software simply uses the ter, which can therefore be based on a sim- Table 1 as far as temperature measure- formula: ple PIC microcontroller, as long as it has an ment alone is concerned. Sending its slave T = 0.02 x N − 273.15 I²C interface. Here the 16F876A was chosen. address again then lets you receive back two bytes containing the LSB and MSB of If you’re not familiar with the SMBus, don’t As shown in Figure 3, our PIC is used in the temperature, followed by a check poly- worry, it’s 99 % identical to the better- crystal clock mode (20 MHz) and has a nomial, marked PEC in Figure 2, which we known I²C bus. It only differs in a few sub- manual reset command via the button S1, won’t be using here. tleties in the protocol, which are unimpor- included to allow the memories containing The temperatures, expressed in Kelvin, are tant here, and by a small difference in terms the maximum and minimum temperatures represented by unsigned 15-bit words. If of the electrical levels; a difference that very to be reset. elektor 02-2011 49
61002 INFRARED THERMOMETER COMPONENT LIST Resistors (0.25W 5%) R1,R4,R6 = 10kΩ R2, R5 = 100Ω R3 = 1.5kΩ P1 = 10 kΩ trimpot, horizontal Capacitors C1,C3 = 100μF 16V, radial, lead pitch 2.5mm C2 = 470nF 63V, MKT, lead pitch 5 or 7.5mm C4 = 10μF 25V, radial, lead pitch 2.5mm C5, C8 = 22pF ceramic, lead pitch 0.2’’ (5.08mm) C6 = 100nF ceramic, lead pitch 5 or 7.5mm C7 = 10nF ceramic, lead pitch 5 or 7.5mm Inductors L1 = 10μH, Panasonic type ELC08D100E (RS Components) Semiconductors IC1 = LT1300 Miscelllaneous Pinheader pins, lead pitch 0.1’’ (2.54mm) IC2 = PIC16F876A-I/SP, programmed, Elektor LCD1 = LCD, 4 lines of 20 characters, e.g. Dis- Pinheader sockets, lead pitch 0.1’’ (2.54mm) # 100707-41 playtech 204A PCB, Elektor # 100707-1 IC3 = Sensor type MLX90614ESF-BAA or MLX- X1 = 20MHz quartz crystal, HC18/U case 90614ESF-AAA (see text) S1 = pushbutton, 1 make contact, ITT type D6 D1 = 1N5817 (must-have Schottky) if fitted on PCB D2 = 3.3V 0.4W zener diode S2 = swich, changeover, or wire link DIL IC sockets: 1 pc 8-way; 1 pc 28-way The display used is an LCD type, with or visible, which is a bit of a shame. The display cells (or two 1.2 V NiMH rechargeables) by without backlight as you prefer, depend- is used in 4-bit mode, driven from port B of way of the LT1300 switching step-up DC-DC ing on whether or not switch S2 is closed the microcontroller. converter. This IC provides a stabilized 5 V (or a link is fitted). Ideally, you should use output from any input voltage between 2 a perfectly standard type with four lines The two bus lines coming from the sensor and 5 V. It is capable of supplying a current of 20 characters, but the circuit also works terminate at RC4 and RC3 of the PIC respec- of 400 mA, i.e. a great deal more than is with a pin-compatible two-line, 16-charac- tively, the inputs to parallel port C, which needed for our thermometer. ter type. In this instance, the two lines dis- are shared with its internal I²C interface. Although the sensor does exist in a 5 V playing the minimum and maximum are not The circuit is powered at 5 V from two 1.5 V version, the most readily available at the 50 02-2011 elektor
61002 INFRARED THERMOMETER moment is the 3 V version. This explains temperature and 0x07 for the the reason for resistor R2 and its associated temperature of the object); zener diode (D2). Note here that the SMBus • send a repeated start signal; load resistors R4 and R6 are returned to the • send the IC’s slave address, this time 5 V rail all the same, in order to guarantee with Read mode selected (R/W = 1); correct electrical levels at the PIC input. But • receive a series of three bytes: the LSB there’s no risk to the MLX90614, as it has and MSB of the temperature, then the internal limiting diodes. PEC (not used in our application); • send a stop signal to terminate the I²C/ Software SMBus transaction; The software (copiously annotated source • and finally, reconstruct the 15-bit code and HEX file) is available for free down- word containing the temperature loading from [1] and [2]. It has been written by concatenation of the two bytes in MikroBasic from Mikroelektronika, which received. has the advantage of having available a per- fectly functional I²C library. Note that the We’ll leave you to analyse the rest of our size of the compiled software is over 2 KB program with the help of our copious notes, and so it can’t be compiled using the demo and move on to the practical aspects of version of this compiler. construction. Judging by the content of the Internet Construction forums devoted to the MLX90614, some With the aim of simplifying the mechanical the MLX90614ESF-BAA. The letter B indi- users seem to have encountered difficulties, side of building the thermometer, we’ve cates that it runs on 3 V. If you come across so we thought it would be worth comment- designed a PCB the same size as the dis- an MLX90614ESF-AAA, this is a 5 V version ing here on the relevant section of code. play board, so it can be mounted on the that can still be used in our circuit, but in back of it. that case you’ll need to remove D2, C4, and The procedure for reading the temperature C7, and replace R2 by a wire link. is called using the parameter ‘com’ for the Sourcing the components should not pre- Note that L1 must be capable of carrying a chosen command. The procedure then scru- sent any problem. The display used is a Dis- current of 800 mA without saturating. Oth- pulously adheres to the instructions from playtech 204A, but in theory at least any erwise the LT1300 will work very badly, or Melexis, namely: 4 line × 20 character LCD display using a not at all. standard interface (ST7066, HD44780, or • send a start signal to start the I²C/SMBus KS066 controller) will do, as well as any 2 The sensor can be remoted to the case via transaction; line × 16 character LCD display, as indicated the four connecting pins provided for the • send the IC’s slave address (Melexis above, albeit with the loss of the min. / max. purpose, but to avoid possible interference specifies in the data sheet that all the ICs display. and distortion of the SMBus signals, it’s respond to the address 0x00) with Write preferable not to extend its connections mode selected (R/W = 0); The MLX90614 exists in numerous versions, more than a few tens of cm. • send the command contained in the distinguished by the part number suffixes. variable ‘com’ (0x06 for the ambient The commonest and cheapest version is We fitted 2.54 mm (0.1”) pitch sockets on the back of the display and pins at the same pitch on the copper side of the PCB. In this Sub procedure Read_temp(dim com as byte) way, you can produce an assembly that’s I2C1_Start() ‘ issue I2C start signal easy to remove in the event of problems. I2C1_Wr(0x00) ‘ send address (device address + W) I2C1_Wr(com) ‘ send command Use and adapting I2C1_Repeated_Start() ‘ issue I2C signal repeated start to your own needs I2C1_Wr(0x01) ‘ send address (device address + R) The thermometer operates as soon as SensorLow = I2C1_Rd(1) ‘ Read temp. low byte (acknowledge) power is applied, and the first line of the SensorHigh = I2C1_Rd(1)‘ Read temp. high byte (acknowledge) display gives you the ambient temperature, PEC = I2C1_Rd(1) ‘ Read PEC (not used) i.e. that of the sensor case. The second line I2C1_Stop() ‘ issue I2C stop signal shows the temperature of the object the SensorRaw = SensorLow + (SensorHigh << 8) ‘ Build temp. word sensor is pointing at, i.e. the average of the End sub temperatures of the objects in the sensor elektor 02-2011 51
61002 INFRARED THERMOMETER The maximum and minimum object tem- bration parameters, rendering any subse- peratures are stored automatically, and quent measurements inaccurate. display on the last two lines of the display. (100707) They are updated at the same time as the measurements, which take place once per Internet Links second. [1] www.elektor.com/100707 To reset the minimum and maximum, all [2] www.tavernier-c.com you have to do is press the reset button. Can also be read without contact, but using You can adapt the software to your own a mobile phone. needs and make the thermometer behave quite differently. However, if you want to modify the procedure that handles the window’s field of view. The angle of view of communication with the sensor, only do so the standard version (MLX90614ESF-XAA) if you really know what you’re doing, as it is is not stated. For the MLX90614ESF-XAC it possible to write to it, and incorrect writing is 35°, and 10° for the MLX90614ESF-XAF. may destroy or modify its factory-set cali- LCD1 L1 LC DISPLAY 10uH D1 VDD VSS R/W VO RS D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 A +3V K E C3 C6 6 7 1N5817 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 V IN IC1 SW 2 4 100u 25V 100n SELECT SENSE S2 R6 R4 R2 R1 3 LT1300 5 SHDN I LIM BACKLIGHT 100R 10k 10k 10k 20 GND PGND R3 VDD R5 1 8 1 P1 1k5 MCLR 100R 21 10k IC2 RB0 2 22 RA0/AN0 RB1 CONTRAST 3 23 C1 S1 C2 RA1/AN1 RB2 4 24 RA2/AN2 RB3 100u IC3 470n 5 RA3/AN3 RB4 25 RESET 25V MXL90614 3 6 26 RA4/TOCKI RB5 VDD 7 27 RA5/AN4 RB6 4 2 28 VSS SDA PIC16F876A RB7 SDA 15 RC4/SDA SCL SCL 14 16 RC3/SCL RC5/SDO 1 13 17 RC2 RC6/TX 12 18 RC1 RC7/RX K1 11 SCL RC0 SDA VSS OSC1 OSC2 VSS VDD 8 9 X1 10 19 VSS D2 C4 C7 C5 20MHz C8 10u 10n 3V3 25V 22p 22p 400mW 100707 - 11 Figure 3. Complete circuit of the contactless thermometer. 52 02-2011 elektor
61002 AUDIO & VIDEO TimeClick Programmable camera controller Carlos Ladeira (Portugal) This project dubbed TimeClick controls a digital SLR camera without human intervention using a wired connection. It can take photographs at fixed or random time intervals or in response to sensor input, which makes it suitable for various purposes from HDR photography to sound-triggered pictures. This project came about after having taken • Manual operation for use as wired for the camera on a tripod and let it do all too many photos randomly at events like remote the work. Depending on the power source parties. This way of operating a camera can • Bulb mode used for the device and the camera, you can lead to funny results at best. However, as • Mirror lock have the camera in operation for days. the project developed, the author started to • Exposure bracketing have new ideas and added several new fea- • 12 presets to save different sets of Tools used tures to extend the functionality, such as: configurations The circuit started out on a breadboard and later evolved into a complete PCB design. • Fixed delay between photos Operation is remarkably simple and once For the hardware design (schematics and • Random delay between photos the device is configured and wired to the PCB) open-source CAD program Kicad was • Sensor input to trigger photos camera, you simply choose the right spot used. It is very easy to use, even for first time Elektor Products & Services • Firmware (free download): • - PCB artwork: # 100371-1.pdf • Printed circuit board: # 100371-1 # 100317-11.zip • - Hyperlinks in article • Programmed ATtiny861 microcon- • Manual (free download): Items accessible through troller: # 100371-41 100317-W.pdf www.elektor.com/100371 elektor 02-2011 53
61002 AUDIO & VIDEO LCD1 V+ IC1 +5V BT1 S1 LP2954 1 3 LCDisplay 2 x 16 2 LED+A LED-C VDD VSS C5 C6 C7 C4 R/W K4 RS VL D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 E 3 +5V 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 1 10u 100n 100n 10u 2 25V 16V is using an external power supply. A power R2 T2 switch has been added in this section of the 1k BS170 circuit, see Figure 1. The author’s prototype P1 R8 used six AAA batteries instead of a 9-V block DB4 DB5 DB6 DB7 R/W 10R RS BL E 10k battery, mostly because of the poor battery life of the 9-V block type (IEC 6LR22). +5V +5V +5V Under normal operation the circuit con- K1 sumes about 10 mA with the LCD backlight V+ MISO 1 C9 2 off. If the LCD backlight is on, current con- K8 R11 R1 100n SCK 3 sumption rises to about 100 mA. To save 4k7 1M MOSI 4 energy during operation, the LCD back- 15 RST 5 5 6 AVCC VCC R12 1 DB4 MOSI light is turned off automatically when no PB0 buttons are pressed for 10 seconds. To turn 10k RST 10 2 DB5 MISO RESET PB1 IC2 3 DB6 SCK PB2 9 PB6 PB3 4 DB7 the backlight on again, just press any of the 20 RS device’s buttons. ATtiny861 PA0 19 R/W S2 R16 PA1 12 18 E 68k PA6 PA2 11 PA7 PA3 17 BL Since the LCD needed 5 volts and the same +5V 14 S3 R17 R15 PA4 13 voltage was suitable for powering the rest 15k 10k PA5 IC4 XTAL1 XTAL2 AGND K11 K10 R13 of the circuit, the author went for a stand- GND 1 7 S4 R18 1k K9 ard voltage regulator. Thus, the first pick 16 7 8 6 5k6 X1 2 8 R14 S5 R19 1k 4 6 was the well known 7805. However, a quick C10 1k5 C1 C2 3 5 change of mind occurred after a close look 100p 22p 8MHz 22p CNY74-2 at the datasheet. A 7805 needs at least 7 volts at its input to be able to stabilise its C8 8 output at 5 volts. This of course isn’t any IC3 = LM358P IC3 D1 good when you want to power your circuit 100n 4 K6 R7 K7 K5 from batteries. Moreover, the 7805 is not 5 47k R4 R5 R3 6 IC3B 7 known for its high efficiency... K2 100k 10k 10k R6 R9 470k 2 P2 D2 R10 100k 1 K3 T1 As result of all this, an LP2954 seemed IC3A C3 3 much more appropriate. This is a regula- 4k7 5V1 100n 100k tor with reverse battery protection and a 400mW BC237 100371 - 11 low dropout voltage which helps to extend battery life. Figure 1. Schematics There is a battery level indication option included using R11, R12 and a free ADC port (ADC9) of the microcontroller. users. Since the author has done every- was solved once by restarting the computer The heart of this circuit is an ATMEL thing at home (PCB making using the iron- and ultimately by completely reinstalling ATtiny861 which fits the bill exactly. The ing method), no metallised holes have been AVR Studio. From what can be found in main reason for the author to choose this used and all connections between both lay- postings on the Internet by users with simi- microcontroller instead of another from ers of the PCB are made using wires or com- lar problems, we’ve a hunch it was caused the Atmel family was mostly because of its ponent pins. by a bug in AVR Studio mixed with inappro- availability in SOIC-20 package. This pack- priate procedures. age is not too hard to solder and still is rela- For the software design AVR Studio 4 was tively small. The microcontroller operates at the development tool. The microcontroller The advised procedure for programming 1 MHz. Here, you have two options: just use programming was done with Atmel’s AVR the microcontroller can be found under a crystal of 1 MHz or an 8 MHz device and Dragon using ISP mode. In the beginning Assembling & Programming. set the CKDIV8 fuse when programming. the author experienced some troubles with The 2x16 LCD is used to show information AVR Studio and AVR Dragon. Sometimes Hardware description and allow the user to configure the device. AVR Studio seemed to be able to connect Starting with the power supply, there are It’s being used in 4-bit mode and the LED to the AVR Dragon but unable to communi- two options for powering the device. One backlight is controlled by the microcon- cate with the microcontroller. This problem is using an internal 9-V battery, the other troller through N-channel FET T2. 54 02-2011 elektor
61002 AUDIO & VIDEO The keyboard input is implemented using one ADC input (ADC6) instead of several COMPONENT LIST (digital) ports. That way there is no need Resistors T1 = BC547 for a controller with more input ports and T2 = BS170 R1,R10 = 4.7kΩ consequently no larger package is needed. R2,R13,R14 = 1kΩ IC1 = LP2954IT The voltage the ADC reads depends on the R3,R4,R12,R15 = 10kΩ IC2 = ATTINY861-20SU, programmed, Elektor key pressed. When no key is pressed, the R5,R9 = 100kΩ # 100371-41 R6 = 470kΩ IC3 = LM358P ADC will read roughly 5 V. All ADCs work in R7 = 47kΩ IC4 = CNY74-2 10 bit mode, which means the value read R8 = 1Ω lies between 0 and 1023. With 5 V on the R11 = 1MΩ Miscellaneous ADC pin, the software will read 1023. R16 = 68kΩ K1 = 6-pin (2x3) pinheader, lead pitch If a key is pressed, the voltage on the ADC R17 = 15kΩ 2.54mm (0.1’’) pin may be calculated using the formula: R18 = 5.6kΩ K2,K3,K4,K5,K7,K10,K11 = 3-pin pinheader, R19 = 1.5kΩ lead pitch 2.54mm (0.1’’) P1 = 10kΩ trimpot K6,Bt1 = 2-pin pinheader, lead pitch 2.54mm VADC = VCC – (R15 × VCC) / (R15 + RSW) P2 = 100kΩ trimpot (0.1’’) S1 = switch, SPST where VCC = 5 V, R15 = 10 kΩ and R SW = Capacitors S2,S3,S4,S5 = 6 mm tactile switch type 1.5 kΩ, 5.6 kΩ, 15 kΩ or 68 kΩ depending C1,C2 = 22pF MC32830 on the switch pressed. C3,C6,C7,C8,C9 = 100nF K8 = PCB jack socket, 3.5 mm, stereo, e.g. C4,C5 = 10μF 25V radial Lumberg type 1503 09 C10 = 100pF K9 = PCB jack socket, 2.5 mm, stereo, e.g. The four keyboard switches have the fol- Lumberg type 1501 06 lowing functions: MENU, MINUS, PLUS and Semiconductors X1 = 8MHz quartz crystal ENTER, with which you can adjust the set- D1 = BPW16N photo transistor LCD1 = LCD, 2 x 16 characters, Lumex type ting of the TimeClick. D2 = 5.1V 400mW zener diode LCM-SO1602DSF/A ADC5 is used for sensor input. The sensor is connected through a 3.5-mm jack socket. At the tip there is 5 V available for powering the sensor. The ring carries the sensor out- put signal and the shield is grounded. There are three types of sensor included in the schematic: a light sensor, a sound sen- sor and a vibration sensor (piezo). But of course the sensor range can be extended to whatever sensor you need. To avoid con- nection mistakes, the sensor input jack and the output jack have different sizes. The output signal is available at a 2.5-mm jack socket, as found on some Canon cam- eras. For safety reasons the output of the microcontroller is coupled to the jack via an optocoupler. This device can be used with many differ- ent camera models (see inset Camera Com- patibilty Guide); you only need to have the right adapter cable and the camera should Figure 2. Component layout be able to work with the implemented protocol. are shorted, the camera behaves like the ADC input receiving the voltage a sensor This protocol is rudimentary: it uses three shutter button is fully pressed. generates. Regardless of the type of sensor pins: 1—ground; 2—ring and 3—tip. When used the microcontroller waits for a tran- pins 1 and 2 are shorted, the camera Sensor operation sition (rise or fall) across a trigger value. behaves the same as when the shutter but- The way the sensors work is very easy to When this condition is met, it acts accord- ton is half way pressed. When pins 1 and 3 understand. The microcontroller reads the ingly depending on the configuration, i.e. elektor 02-2011 55
61002 AUDIO & VIDEO Camera Compatibility Guide TimeClick was successfully tested with a Canon 500D, which has a 2.5 mm jack intended for a remote control (E3-type) and a Canon 7D that has a Canon N3 connector for the same purpose. As a result, all cameras from Canon with 2.5 mm jacks should be compatible with TimeClick. This includes models 1000D, 550D, 500D, 450D, 350D, 300D and 60D. The N3 connector is present in Canon models EOS 1D, 5D, 5Dmk2, 7D ,10D, 20D, 30D, 40D and 50D, so these should be compatible too. Of course in this case — since N3 connec- tors are difficult to obtain — the easiest way is to buy a special connecting cord or a cheap remote trigger and just use the N3 connector. Connecting cords are available from [3] for example (go to ‘Remote Accessories’ in the ‘Remote Cords/Wireless/Infrared’ section). Other brands haven’t been tested, but a search using Google revealed that all Pentax cameras use the same pinout as the Canon cameras, so it’s very likely they are compatible. Nikons have different connectors, but they have the same basic functionality. They use an MC-DC1 connector on models D70, D70s and D80, a MC-DC2 connector on models D90, D3100, D5000 and D7000 and a 10-pin connector with different names (MC-20, MC-22, MC-30, MC-36) on models D200, D300, D700, D3 and D3x... So perhaps they can be used with TimeClick too. We would like to hear from you if they do (or don’t). Everyone’s invited to post their findings on the Elektor forum. waits a configured time expressed in ms 12 different profiles where the user can device should be connected. However, since and then fires the shutter. save different operating configurations. the author experienced some mysterious Each profile can be renamed to indicate the occurrences in this step, he advises to stick Always turn off the power before plugging function it was created for. For example, to the following order: and unplugging the sensors. This way short- the user can have a profile for ‘Lightning’, circuits inside the mini-jack connectors are one for ‘Drops’, and so on. Included in the 1. With both TimeClick and AVR Dragon/ avoided. source code at [1] is a file with the EEPROM ISP powered OFF, connect the ISP cable contents of several preconfigured modes. between them. Software description The source code, freely available from Assembling & Programming 2. Then connect the AVR Dragon/ISP to a [1], was written completely in C language A printed circuit board and a programmed USB port capable of supplying more than using the very efficient compiler avr-gcc. microcontroller can be purchased from the 300 mA. About 99% of the 8 K flash space of the Elektor Shop [1]. When assembling your microcontroller is used to store the pro- device, start with the lowest profile compo- 3. Now you can power up TimeClick. gram. It was hard to squeeze all the fea- nents and work your way up to the tallest tures into the device. Several code opti- ones. Figure 2 shows the PC board compo- Next, go to the menu Tools -> Program AVR misations were required. All configuration nent layout. The LCD and switches need to -> Connect to choose the appropriate pro- data are preserved in the EEPROM of the be mounted on the copper side of the PCB. grammer/port and press Connect. Figure 3 microcontroller. Once the board is populated, it is time to shows the window you should see right put some intelligence in! The programming now. It’s important that the programming The program operation is clearly com- of the Atmel microcontroller is done by way mode is set to ISP and that the ISP frequency mented; the program does the initial setup of ISP connector K1. Assuming you’re using is set to 125 KHz (< ¼th of the device clock). and then enters an endless loop. Inside this AVR Studio and AVR Dragon / AVR ISP pro- If everything checks out, an ‘OK’ should be loop is where all the action happens. grammer, here is what you should do: returned after you press Read Signature. TIMER0 is configured to generate a pulse every second to take care of all timing mul- First choose the appropriate device in the Now we’re ready to set the fuses to the tiples of 1 second. menu Project -> Configuration options. correct values as shown in Figure 4. SPIEN To allow for maximum flexibility, there are Next, the programmer and the TimeClick is active as factory default. If you used an 56 02-2011 elektor
61002 AUDIO & VIDEO Figure 3. Connecting to the device. Figure 4. Setting the fuses correctly. Figure 5. Programming the microcontroller. 8 MHz crystal, you should also check • Number of photos taken so far the CKDIV8 fuse as shown in the Battery level • Metering setting screen capture. It is also important Sensor mode • Bulb setting to set the correct clock source, in • Mirror lock setting Operation mode this case select ‘External Crystal 3.0- • Exposure bracketing setting 8.0MHZ’. The Brown-out detection Active profile could avoid EEPROM corruption with Frames count Some of this information is presented batteries at the end of life, so set this using custom characters defined in to 4.3 V. the software. Finally, it’s time to program the Pressing the MENU key while the device. All the needed files are inside main screen is being displayed, ena- the ZIP-file associated with this arti- bles the user to enter the menu cle (100371-11.zip, see [1]). Down- Message area where the configuration takes place. load and extract this file. In the flash Metering mode The menu is intuitive and easy to area, select the file TimeClick.hex and Bulb mode navigate. Press MENU to go back, hit the Program button (Figure 5). At Mirror lock PLUS and MINUS to change val- the end, the device will reboot. Exposure Bracket ues and ENTER to go forward. For a 100371 - 12 more complete reference about the If you want to use the preconfigured operation of the TimeClick, there is EEPROM settings, in the EEPROM a user manual available at [1] and the area select the file TimeClick_Con- Figure 6. Information shown on display. author’s website [2]. figured_eeprom.hex (also inside the (100371) downloadable zip package) and hit the Program button. figured EEPROM settings mentioned before. Software Operation In the main screen the following informa- With the device programmed, it’s ready tion is always visible: for use. When the ENTER key is pressed and Internet Links held during device power on, a reset to fac- • Battery level in steps of 25% [1] www.elektor.com/100371 tory defaults of all configuration possibili- • Sensor mode [2] http://timeclick.no.sapo.pt ties can be carried out. This option will erase • Operation mode all saved configurations, even the precon- • Active profile [3] www.enjoyyourcamera.com elektor 02-2011 57
61002 MIAC & FLOWCODE MIAC Controlled Underfloor Heating System Totally programmable with Flowcode By Ben Rowland (United Kingdom) This heating system sketched in this article keeps you warm in cold times and with the help of Flowcode software is designed for total adaptability to heating capacity and other parameters. The MIAC (Matrix Industrial Automotive t2, which are situated in the floor near the valves to the PEX loops are opened and then Controller) supplied by Elektor is an indus- PEX heating loops. The lookup table data is the boiler and the pump are switched on. trial grade control unit similar to a PLC but generated using an Excel spreadsheet with When the return temperature t3 returns to more feature packed and easier to program values matching those of the thermistors a value above the switch off temperature without having to resort to using ladder (included in the free download 100871-11. the pump and boiler are switched off. logic. It’s based on the powerful 18F4455 zip from the Elektor website [1]). PIC microcontroller and can be directly con- When the temperature of the thermistors Improvements nected to USB, making programming — via drops below a threshold value, we check The program could be improved by allow- Flowcode, C or Assembly — a breeze. An to see if the individual loops are enabled. ing loop1 and loop2 to be enabled or dis- LCD, pushbuttons, four relay outputs, eight If they are, we open the valves connected abled separately to allow for zones to be inputs — selectable analogue or digital — to the individual loops. We then switch on left unheated if required. Another way to and a CAN connection complete the system. the pump and the boiler. An example pro- improve the system would be to add a timer The main purpose for the MIAC is industrial gram — Heating System.fcf — is included in functionality to allow the temperatures to applications. Hence it makes use of voltages the download from [1]. vary, for example drop slightly during the of 12 volts instead of the 5 volts normally As the water from the boiler output starts night. applied in PIC microcontroller systems. to heat up, the thermostatic mixing valve The file MIAC_Underfloor_v1.1.fcf, found in does its work and starts to mix the cold the download 100871-11.zip on [1], con- Practical application... water from the output of the PEX loops with tains the latest version of the author’s ther- In this article we demonstrate how we can the hot water from the boiler. We can mon- mostatic heating controller program for replicate an expensive underfloor home itor the temperature of the water running the MIAC. It has lots of functions and allows heating system at a fraction of the normal through the PEX loops by reading thermis- you to save up to 40 programmable events, costs. This heating system consists of a few tor t3. When this temperature has reached directly control the system, it has fill and major key elements: the required level, we can shut off the boiler drain modes, temperature settings for each and we can also shut off the pump. zone, back-off temperature settings and a • a boiler Every so often we can activate the pump for lot of other bits and pieces. The green menu • electronic valves a bit to circulate the water and ensure that button accesses the main menu that allows • a thermostatic mixing valve it is still up to temperature. you to set up the device. • a central heating pump Please note that the RCD is an essential part The author decided to simply use thermis- • an air release valve of the system, as it could make the differ- tors for each zone for now rather than cre- • PEX underfloor piping ence between a nasty shock and death if ate a CAN network of sensor nodes mainly • an AC power residual current device you were to come into contact with a live because of time limitations on the project. (RCD) cable. The thermistors he used (Rapid # 61-0410) • temperature sensors With reference to the existing boiler and are simply connected between 12 V and the • a MIAC thermostat, wiring should be implemented MIAC input terminal and the lookup table • compression fittings to assemble so that the room thermostat can still work provided in the file works to translate the manifold when the underfloor heating system is not readings to degrees centigrade. running. If a warm-water based system is not for ...and implementation The example program is very basic and sim- you, then the MIAC can also be used to Figure 1 shows a basic schematic of a two ply checks the return temperature t3. When directly drive electrical underfloor heating loop underfloor heating system. We let t3 drops below a threshold value, the tem- elements. The relay contacts are rated up the MIAC use a lookup table technique to peratures of t1 and t2 are read into the sys- to 1800 – 2000 W at AC grid voltage allow- read the temperature of thermistors t1 and tem. Depending on these temperatures the ing you to drive small through to large, 58 02-2011 elektor
61002 MIAC & FLOWCODE Elektor Products & Services - 3x MIAC and Flowcode 4 Bundle* * available at www.elektor.com/miac - MIAC, ready assembled* - USB A to B mini lead* ** accessible through - MIAC and Flowcode 4 Bundle* - Flowcode program: # 100871-11.zip** www.elektor.com/100871 high power heating mats. To do this, you would connect the Neutral and Ground sig- nals from the AC powerline to the heating mat. Then connect the Live from the AC grid through one of the MIAC relays to the Live from the heating mat. If you want full electrical separation when the mat is not in use, then you will have to use a second relay to connect and discon- nect the Neutral connection. Again an RCD should be used along with a great deal of precaution to avoid any injury caused by contact with AC powerline voltage. Electri- cal underfloor heating mats should also be placed on an insulated layer to avoid a high percentage of the heat escaping directly into the ground. Word of warning Please note that all electrical work will need to be inspected by a qualified electrician. Electrical regulations may differ from coun- try to country, so make sure you check your local legal requirements. Also the wattage Figure 1. Schematic diagram of a heating system using an Elektor MIAC as the controlling unit. quoted for the electrical heating mat is sub- ject to a 250 VAC system. The amperage on the relay outputs, the screw terminals and the PCB tracking of the MIAC is rated to 8 A. Therefore at 250 V the theoretical power is 250 V × 8 A = 2000 W. At 110 V the wattage drops to a theoretical maximum of 880 W. The author is in no ways a qualified plumber or a qualified electrician so got advice from qualified personnel when installing the sys- tem and then signed off the electrical and heating systems with approved profession- als. If you decide to do similar things using domestic AC grid voltages or plumbing sys- tems, then please ensure to get help and advice from qualified professionals in your area before you begin and again before you switch on or commission the system. Some pictures of the author’s installation work can be found on [2], where more infor- mation about MIAC and Flowcode is also available and help is on stand-by. (100871) Internet Links [1] www.elektor.com/100871 [2] www.matrixmultimedia.com/mmforums Figure 2. Using Flowcode for programming the MIAC is quite straightforward. elektor 02-2011 59
61002 MICROPROCESSORS Linux’ed Telephone-to-VoIP Adapter Quick Recipe: add PIC, SLIC, Asterisk, Linux, FXS. No telco bill. By Angelos Varvitsiotis (Greece) This open hardware & software project is a USB-connected interface that links a Voice-over-IP (VoIP) system to an analogue phone set or similar equipment like an analogue exchange. The powerhouse board works under Linux using the renowned Asterisk IP PBX software, and at a stroke enables you to use your home telephone set to connect to the VoIP world. Are you ready for some acronyms? Engi- scriber equipment like telephone sets, the world. Sometimes the FXS acronym is neers use them all the time and the tele- modems, and fax machines. In other words, also rendered as Foreign eXchange System. phony/telecomms industry has plenty! an FXS interface points to the subscriber. Like: an FXS (Foreign eXchange Subscriber) An FXS interface provides the following pri- Now, an FXO (Foreign eXchange Office) interface (the plug on the wall) delivers mary services to a subscriber device: dial interface (the plug on the phone) receives POTS (plain old telephone service/system) tone, battery current and ring voltage. Note POTS, typically from a CO of the PSTN (Pub- from the local phone company’s CO (Cen- that all three services come with different lic Switched Telephone Network). In other tral Office) and must be connected to sub- values and parameters in countries around words, an FXO interface points to the Telco Elektor Products & Services • PIC18F2550-I/SO, programmed: • Hyperlinks in article • PCB, bare: # 100761-1 # 100761-41 Items accessible through • PCB artwork: # 100761-1.pdf • Source code: # 100761-11.zip www.elektor.com/100761 60 02-2011 elektor
61002 MICROPROCESSORS FXO FXS Wall-plate Port Port office. An FXO interface provides just one POTS Circuit primary service to the Telco network device: Jack on-hook/off-hook indication (loop closure). As illustrated in Figure 1, a telecommunica- Subscriber tions line from an FXO port must connect to an FXS port in order for the connection Telco Central Office 100761 - 11 to work. Similarly, a line from an FXS port must connect to an FXO port in order for the connection to work. When the FXO port on Figure 1. With the arrival of VoIP this is all history but you may appreciate a bit of remedial teaching on basic telephony and the quirky acronyms used. your analogue telephone is connected to the FXS port in the wall, you receive FXS ser- vice from the Telco — and assuming your bill is paid, you hear a dial tone when you pick scriber line; the chip uses two digital buses to com- up the phone. Note the arrows in Figure 1, • the actual subscriber line; municate to the (digital) world: a PCM bus they illustrate the pointing. • the analogue-to-digital and digital-to- and an SPI bus. Both are controlled by a analogue conversion (PCM codec). PIC18F2550 microcontroller running some If you connect an FXS device to another clever firmware. FXS device, the connection will not work. The SLIC is complemented by an analogue The parts marked with an asterisk (*) have Likewise, if you connect an FXO device to line driver type Si3201, again from SiLabs. values optimised for a phone line length of another FXO it will not work either. So, for The circuit also comprises the DC-DC con- up to 2,000 feet (approx. 700 m) and a ring example, you can not plug a standard ana- verter analogue circuitry, consisting mainly voltage of 45 Vrms. logue telephone (FXO) directly into a stand- of D1, L1, Q7 and Q8 plus surrounding com- ard analogue telephone (FXO) and talk ponents. The converter is driven by a PWM The PIC (ticking at 20 MHz) and its firmware phone-to-phone. signal from the 3210’s DCDRV output. accomplish a large number of tasks: pack- That’s FAB (full acknowledgement of broad- Besides the analogue telephony interface, ing PCM 1-ms audio samples into USB pack- cast, tnx Thunderbirds) but with the arrival of VoIP (voice over internet protocol) we don’t need the Telco anymore and that begs the question: can I connect an ana- How 2 make it come alive logue phone (system) to VoIP? The answer There are plenty of reasons why an otherwise perfect board would not work at first try. is: YES (yes, exquisitely so) using Linux and The first step in giving life to the board is to bring up the bootloader, as explained in the a dedicated converter designed for use on blog at [5b]. the USB (universal serial bus). This is done by switching on S1b (i.e. the DIP switch closest to the USB plug) in order to in- voke the bootloader and enable the use of a USB bootload utility like PICDEM or fsusb (the The circuit The schematic of the adapter is shown in latter on Linux) to load the firmware. Figure 2 — this should be a treat for all fans However, this applies to a pre-programmed PIC. In the case of a fresh, empty PIC, you first of microcontrollers, embedded applications need to flash the bootloader firmware from here: and open source platforms including Linux. http://openusbfxs.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/PIC18FSource/Bootloader-FXSMOD/boot- The analogue phone is connected to J1 loader.hex and the PC’s USB port to… ‘USB’! Simple as that, the Linux environment on the PC and using a PIC programmer that will do In-Circuit-Serial-Programming (ICSP). Once the boot- the firmware running inside the PIC do all loader has been flashed, you need to switch S1b and plug the board into a USB in order to the work and you can start phoning for free invoke the bootloader. using your trusted analogue phone. The final step is to use PICDEM-FS or fsusb to load the actual adapter firmware pulled At the heart of the circuit is a Silicon Labs from [8]. Si3210 microcontroller [1] in its default application circuit. This chip, also called a Flashing just the FXS firmware without the bootloader will cause the board to fail to work. SLIC (subscriber line integrated circuit), con- This is because the bootloader firmware takes care of jumping into the right places within trols the telephony-related functions of the the FXS firmware during reset and interrupt sequences. Obviously, if the bootloader is not board, namely: installed, this is not going to work. Other than that, please check the author’s blog page for more hints and advice in the rare • a DC-DC converter that generates the case that your adapter does not work straight off. necessary voltage to drive the sub- elektor 02-2011 61
61002 MICROPROCESSORS +5V +5V L2 BLM18AG601SN1 +5V C31 C30 CDC1 CDC2 10u 6V 100n 100u 100n 10V 25V RCLR RUSR 10k 10k C15 C16 C17 20 RDTX 100n 100n 100n VDD JLVP 4k7 10 27 30 1 R1 VDDA1 VDDA2 VDDD MCLR/VPP/RE3 15 3 5% 6 11 RPGM 200k STIPDC PCLK RA4/T0CKI/C1OUT/RCV RC0/T1OSO/T13CKI 1% 4 5 12 10k C3 R8 DRX RA3/AN3/VREF+ RC1/T1OSI/CCP2/UOE 20 5 4 25 K1 470R STIPAC DTX RA2/AN2/VREF-/CVREF RB4/AN11/KBI0 220n 1% 6 3 26 1 2 FSYNC RA1/AN1 RB5/KBI1/PGM C24 100V 7 2 IC3 27 3 4 RESET RA0/AN0 RB6/KBI2/PGC 36 21 28 5 6 +5V C18 C19 SDO RB0/AN12/INT0/FLT0/SDI/SDA RB7/KBI3/PGD 100n 38 22 23 USB 8 7 SCLK RB1/AN10/INT1/SCK RB2/AN8/INT2/VMO L3 VDD GND 4u7 6V 4u7 6V 1 24 14 1 IC1 CS RB3/AN9/CCP2/VPO VUSB VBUS BLM18AG601SN1 1 15 29 2 13 15 2 J1 TIP ITIPN ITIPN INT RC2/CCP1 PIC18F2550-I/SO RC4/D-/VM D– 1 C105 C5 13 25 37 18 16 3 IRINGN IRINGN SDI RC7/RX/DT/SDO RC5/D+/VP D+ 2 16 28 24 R32 7 17 4 IC2 ITIPP ITIPP IGMP RA5/AN4/SS/HLVIN//C2OUT RC6/TX/CK CUSB GND 3 680p 100V 22n 100V 14 26 R15 10k IRINGP IRINGP 4 243R R2 VSS OSC1 OSC2 VSS 220n 5 C106 C6 11 17 10% STIPE 196k STIPE RL1 8 9 10 19 6 22 1% 4 3 RJ45 SI3201 R4 1% IGMN X1 330R 680p 100V 22n 100V 3 10 19 11 +5V ON RING SRINGE 196k SRINGE IREF S1 BLM18AG601SN1 R7 R6 1% 12 VBATH VBAT CAPP R14 L4 14 4k02 4k02 5 4 CAPM LD1 CO2 20MHz CO1 1 2 40k2 1% 1% SI3210-FT(LP) C1 C2 R5 1 2 18 22p 22p 200k SVBAT 1% 13 10u 6V 10u 6V C4 R9 1% QGND 100761 - 12 21 32 470R SRINGAC TEST 23 220n R3 1% GNDA 100V 16 31 200k SRINGDC GNDD 1% SDCL SDCH DCDRV DCFF +5V MMBT2222A 9 8 34 33 R28 37k4 * Q9 R20 R19 1% C10 +5V R29 450k 18k 18k * 1% 1% 1% R16 100n 50V F1 R21 200R 15R 5% D1 5% ES1D 750mA R18A C26 C9 * 0R82 Q8 R18B 5% Q7 100n 100V 10u 0R82 100V FZT953 MMBT2222A R17 C25 5% L1 * C14 Tant 450R * 100uH 100n 25V 10u 1A 5% 25V Figure 2. The core of the circuit is a SLIC (subscriber line integrated circuit) from SiLabs while most of the intelligence resides in the PIC18F2550 microcontroller. ets (and vice versa), driving the 3210’s PCM got designed for the adapter and best of shown in Figure 4. Choke L1 is very conspic- bus clock, transmitting and receiving isoch- all it’s available ready-made from Elektor uous on the board with its two large solder ronous data over USB, keeping the PCM bus (# 100761-1) and the same goes for the pads. time in synchronism with the USB bus ‘tick- programmed PIC (# 100761-41). Figure 3 ing’ and, finally, managing all other generic shows the board stuffing plans for the top As a tip-off, SiLabs operate a sampling ser- functions required for USB communication. and bottom sides. The board is brimful of vice for their ICs. Our ICs however were While the SiLabs ICs are seen in a more SMD parts at both sides, including the three obtained through Mouser with a little help or less standard constellation following integrated circuits so assembly might not from CJ and Valerie at our sister magazine the manufacturer’s datasheets and ref- be too easy if you’ve never worked with Circuit Cellar based in Vernon, CT. erence circuits, the originality of the cir- these tiny devices before. The Si3210 is cuit of course resides in the PIC firmware, troublesome with its extremely fine pitch Firmware which manages all the above functions in leads, which may push your limits in terms The PIC firmware may be downloaded free real time, and thus obviates the need for of accuracy and power of sight. from the Elektor website [2] and is upgrada- an expensive FPGA device (sooo corny now ble over USB, using a Microchip-supplied in telephony designs) and keeps the whole All fears aside, the prototype was success- tool called PICDEM [3]. This function is cost very low. Pinheader array K1 is the PIC fully built by Jan Visser of Elektor Labs using accomplished by DIP switch S1(b), which ICSP (in-circuit programming) connector. manual soldering throughout at both sides controls whether the board boots in boot- of the board and the ‘solder braid trick’ to loader or normal mode. Firmware upgrades Construction – yes you can, too separate the Si3210 pins electrically after can also be performed by a utility program. All Linux fans should want to build this, mass-soldering. FYI Jan is spectacled and The other DIP switch, S1(a) resets the PIC, it so a nice compact board (60 × 30 mm) at the safe side of 50, but just. The result is should be kept in the OFF position. 62 02-2011 elektor
61002 MICROPROCESSORS COMPONENT LIST C3,C4= 220nF 100V, shape 1812 Mouser # 634-SI3210-GT Resistors C5,C6= 22nF 100V, shape 1812 IC2 = Si3201-FS/GS (ESOIC-16T), SiLabs, Mous- (default: SMD 0805) C9 = 10μF 100V radial er # 634-SI3201-GS R1,R3,R5 = 200kΩ C10,C14,C26 = 100nF 100V, shape 1210 IC3 = PIC18F2550-I/SO, programmed, Elektor R2,R4 = 196kΩ C15,C16,C17,C24,C30= 100nF, shape 0603 # 100761-41, see [2] R6,R7 = 4.02kΩ C18,C19 = 4.7μF 6V LD1 = LED, green (1206 CHIPLED) R8,R9 = 470Ω C25 = 10μF 25V tantalum bead Q7 = FZT953 (SOT230P700X160-4N) R14 = 40.2kΩ C105,106 = 680pF 100V Q8,Q9 = MMBT2222A (SOT95P280X13-3N) R15 = 243Ω CDC1 = 100μF 10V radial R16 = 200Ω CDC2 = 100nF 25V Miscellaneous R17 = 453Ω* CO1,CO2 = 22pF F1 = fuse, 0.75A, shape 1210 R18A,R18B = 0.82Ω*, shape 1206 CUSB = 220nF J1 = RJ-11/12 socket, PCB mount R19,R20 = 18kΩ JLVP = jumper or temporary wire link R21 = 15Ω, shape 1206 Inductors K1 = 6-pin (2x3) pinheader block, 0.1’’ R28 = 37.4kΩ L1 = 100μH 1A, SMD S1 = 2-way DIP switch, SMD R29 = 453kΩ* L2,L3,L4 = 150μH 1A, SMD, type BLM18AG- U1 = USB-A-H socket R32,RCLR, RPGM, RUSR = 10kΩ 601SN1, 0603 shape X1 = 20MHz quartz crystal RL1 = 330Ω, shape 1206 PCB, Elektor # 100761-1, see [2] Semiconductors Capacitors (all SMD) * for phone cable length up to 2,000 ft. and (default: SMD 1206) D1 = ES1D (SMB) V(ring) = 45 Vrms. C1,C2,C31 = 10μF 6V IC1 = Si3210-FT/GT (TSSOP38-LP), SiLabs, R16 version: 2.1d Q8 R17 6 C4 C3 R18B R18A R19 R21 JLVP R29 C9 D1 Q7 C14 F1 RUSR CDC2 C25 1 K1 C30 C5 RL1 C6 C18 C19 C26 C10 C17 Q9 L4 RPGM R28 C16 R8 L3 L2 C15 C31 R9 U1 L1 J1 IC1 IC3 R15 C106 C105 R20 R7 LD1 R4 R5 IC2 R14 C2 C1 R1 R6 CO2 CO1 S1 RDTX RCLR 2 CUSB R2 CDC1 ON X1 1 C24 Open USB FXS R3(C)2010 A.Varvitsiotis R32 Figure 3. Component mounting plan of the VoIP adapter board. The bare board is available from Elektor. Linux driver and Asterisk the open-source Asterisk IP PBX system. compiled and loaded into the Linux ker- The board is accessible via a Linux device Extensive instructions on how to build the nel, the system recognises the USB FXS driver. The author has chosen to integrate driver and integrate the board into a Linux as soon as it is plugged. The verbosity of the board with the Dahdi [4] device driver system can be found in the author’s blog [5]. debug messages is tuneable: while terse by family, so that the board can be used under When the ‘oufxs’ device driver module is default, with the ‘debuglevel’ parameter set Figure 4. A close look at both sides of the board. Check your soldering against this! elektor 02-2011 63
61002 MICROPROCESSORS to 4, the driver displays in detail all its Listening to one’s voice may be steps while initializing the board (Fig- a great tool for debugging, but it ure 5). By now, you have a new Dahdi is not of much use, is it? So what device, that you can see and manage about placing your first free inter- with utilities like dahdi_scan. national VoIP call using IAX (the Inter-Asterisk-eXchange proto- The next step is to configure the col)? Hang up, then pick up the device’s signalling, i.e. the electri- phone again and dial 500. This cal method by which the system will route a VoIP call to Digium’s tells the subscriber that the line has demo IAX server in the United become available, or that the other States (Figure 6). Digium are the party has hung up. While a phone people behind Asterisk. You will set does not care much about these, hear a ring tone, and then Digi- analogue exchanges do, so Dahdi um’s own Asterisk system answers support various signalling meth- the call (beware: this is a real VoIP ods. The author uses ‘fxols’ signal- PBX, and if you dial an extension, ling, which stands for ‘Loop-Start’. you will probably reach a Digium To do this, the ‘/etc/system/dahdi. Figure 5. The Linux ‘oufxs’ driver sees a board plugged and employee). conf’ file must be created or edited takes action. and a line reading ‘fxols=1’ must be added at the end. If you would like An open project to change the default ring and dial tones an ‘echo’ application. You can then speak on All the parts of the design, including the as well, that’s the place to do it, by select- the phone and listen back to your own voice schematic and PCB design files in Cad- ing a ‘tonezone’ other than the default ‘us’. with a few tens of milliseconds delay. soft Eagle format [6], the firmware [7] and You can also add an echo canceller the Linux driver software are e.g. by adding the following line open-source, meaning the work ‘echocanceller=oslec,1’. Finally, the is licensed under the GNU Public ‘dahdi_cfg’ utility must be run. Licence (code) and Creative Com- mons licenses (PCB, documenta- You are now ready to start with tion, etc.). The source code can Asterisk. Follow the author’s instruc- also be found at [8]. All Elektor tions for setting up and configuring readers are invited to improve Asterisk [9], then start Asterisk in and extend the software to their debug console mode (‘e.g. asterisk heart’s content and let the Editor, –vvvvvvc’). Pick up the phone; Aster- the author and members of the isk should note an off-hook event, community know by way of the and you should be listening to a dial Elektor forum (main topic: Micro- tone. Then, dial ‘600’ (and wait a bit controllers & Embedded). for an inter-digit timeout); Asterisk Figure 6. Displaying the dialplan and logging a call from (100761) will log a console message and start Asterisk’s console. Internet Links releases/dahdi-linux-2.3.0.1.tar.gz [1] www.silabs.com/Support%20Documents/TechnicalDocs/si3210. [5] (a) http://openusbfxs.wordpress.com/ and (b) http://openusbfxs. pdf wordpress.com/dyi-setup-and-debugging-guide/ [2] www.elektor.com/100761 [6] http://code.google.com/p/openusbfxs/source/browse/#svn/ trunk/Eagle-OPENUSBFXS-Dongle [3] Microchip PICDEM FS: www.microchip.com/Microchip.WWW. SecureSoftwareList/secsoftwaredownload.aspx?device=en021 [7] http://code.google.com/p/openusbfxs/source/browse/#svn/ 940&lang=en&ReturnURL=http://www.microchip.com/stellent/ trunk/PIC18FSource/OPENUSBFXS-FMWR idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=1406&dDocName=e [8] http://code.google.com/p/openusbfxs/source/browse/#svn/ n021940&part=DM163025# trunk/LinuxDahdiDriver [4] http://downloads.asterisk.org/pub/telephony/dahdi-linux/ [9] http://openusbfxs.wordpress.com/getting-started-with-asterisk/ 64 02-2011 elektor
61002 READERS‘ PROJECTS AlphaLED Shaker Magic message machine By Kurt Schuster (Germany) Give the board a shake, and letters fall out? Not quite: but you can make your favourite message appear as if suspended in thin air. The basic principle will be familiar: as a row the pushbuttons to enter messages having The basic ingredients, comprising a few LEDs of LEDs is moved from side to side, the LEDs ‘definite potential’. That the device might and a microcontroller, were easy enough to are driven in such a way as to exploit the also encourage younger children to learn find and solder together. Harder to solve was persistence of human vision and create the the alphabet through play he saw more as the problem of finding a suitably sensitive illusion of letters, symbols and other graph- a side-effect. The graphic designer also saw shake sensor without having to resort to a ics floating in mid-air. This Reader’s Project potential in the unit, and had the witty idea fully-featured accelerometer. Two homebrew is a new twist on that idea: the board carry- of mounting one on the side of a cocktail attempts, one using a steel ball and the other ing the row of LEDs is moved by hand rather shaker to display an advertising message. using a magnet in a tube with switches (both than being driven by a motor. We use a fairly Children, especially older children who have mechanical and reed-contact) at either end, sophisticated motion detection system to already learned to read, quickly got the hang were not really up to the job. Several commer- let us synchronise the display of text with of using the buttons and shaking the device cial tilt switches were tested, and the readily- the movement of the unit, and the text can to create their own messages. The ease with available (from Farnell or Conrad Electronics) scroll to allow longer messages to be dis- which the text could be read at a distance Assemtech CW1300-1 was found to work well. played. As a bonus, it is possible to edit up was mentioned as a particularly good fea- Surprisingly, taking the sensor apart reveals to four short messages ‘on the fly’. ture, and they were inspired to make the two apparently gold-plated balls, one small board into a toy by decorating it with colour- and one large. The smaller one bridges the con- Shaken, not stirred ful characters and animals. Calling all Elektor tacts, while the larger one presumably ensures The author persuaded some friends of readers with a sideline in toy design... that contact is made with sufficient pressure. his to try out the device: an occupational The software was written in AVR assembler therapist, a graphic artist in the adver- Sensor and sensitivity and was, at least initially, kept very simple. tising industry, and a gaggle of children. In principle the moving-LED idea could be A fixed text graphic was read from mem- Impressions were positive: the occupa- applied to a yo-yo, with the text of a mes- ory and output sequentially to the LEDs tional therapist thought it would be a good sage being spelt out as the yo-yo goes up when the ball in the (home-made) sensor way to motivate his patients, particularly and down. However, the motion of a yo-yo pressed one of the two switches. To get a the younger ones, with the combination proved too slow to produce a satisfactorily stable display it proved necessary to com- of the larger-scale shaking moves and the stable visual effect, and hence we settled on pensate for the inertia of the sensor using a delicate motor skills required to operate the letter shaker approach. variable delay in the code to synchronise the Note. Readers’ Projects are reproduced based on information supplied by the author(s) only. Readers projects have not passed Elektor Labs for replication to verify claimed operation. elektor 02-2011 65
61002 READERS‘ PROJECTS 4 S0 ON * 1 VCC 1 3 2 2 R10 LED0 LED1 LED2 LED3 LED4 LED5 LED6 LED7 C6 C4 470k R0 R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 47u 6V 100n JP2 * * * * * * * * * 20 RST VCC S 1 PA2(RESET/DW) R8 IC1 12 VCC C5 (AIN0/PCINT0)PB0 CW1300-1 2 13 4k7 PD0(RXD) (AIN1/PCINT1)PB1 9 7 5 3 1 100n 3 6 PD1(TXD) (OC0A/PCINT2)PB2 14 15 * JP1 PD2(CKOUT/XCK/INT) (OC1A/PCINT3)PB3 ISP 7 16 CR2032 PD3(INT1) (OC1B/PCINT4)PB4 10 8 6 4 2 8 17 MOSI GND PD4(T0) (MOSI/DI/SDA/PCINT5)PB5 VCC 9 18 MISO PD5(OC0B/T1) (MISO/DO/PCINT6)PB6 11 19 SCK PD6(ICP) (UCSK/SCL/PCINT7)PB7 ATTINY2313-20 PA1(XTAL2) PA0(XTAL1) GND 4 5 10 Q1 * K1 C1 K2 C2 K3 * C3 * * C7 4MHz C8 100n 100n 100n 22p 22p 090337 - 11 Figure 1. A tilt switch controls the drive timing of a row of LEDs via an ATtiny microcontroller. The key to the circuit is in the software. LED data output. It was particularly tricky switch (S0) on the printed circuit board them to fit. Alternatively, rectangular LEDs to arrange things so that the message did (Figure 2) is used to turn the device on and can be used. The value of the series resis- not appear in two different positions as the off; the two-pole version would also be tor depends on the LED colour: 47 Ω is suit- device was moved to and fro, reducing the suitable. Power is provided by a 3 V type able for red LEDs, 27 Ω for green, 22 Ω for overall perceived brightness. As the pro- CR2032 button cell, and of course observ- white and 10 Ω for blue. Since the blue LEDs gram was developed more and more func- ing correct polarity is essential when sol- in particular are being driven at 3 V, below tions were added, with the bulk of the (thor- dering its holder (type SMTU-2032-1). The their rated voltage, it is recommended to oughly commented) code [1] concerning the best LEDs to use are high brightness 3 mm select devices manually for uniformity of user interface, control logic, character sets, types with a wide viewing angle; these are brightness. It is also a good idea to do this message scrolling, LED drive and polling the connected to the microcontroller outputs for green and white LEDs, but it is less criti- control buttons. Shake detection is done PB0 to PB7. To make the resulting display cal for red LEDs. The tilt switch is mounted under interrupts. Sensor inertia compensa- as pleasingly solid as possible, the LEDs are horizontally, soldered to the pins of JP2 (see tion accounts for very few lines of code, but mounted tight up against one another and Figure 3). The ISP connector on the board a disproportionately large amount of know- round LEDs may need a bit of filing to get (JP1) need not be fitted, and the relevant how, including a detailed analysis of the shake movement using an ADXL320 acceler- ometer. It was only armed with this knowl- K2 K1 K3 R0 3 3 3 1 1 1 LED0 2 edge that we could make the final version of R1 ON LED1 1 the device work with just a tilt switch. R2 S0 LED2 4 2 4 2 4 2 R8 R3 LED3 C2 C1 C3 JP2 R4 Circuit and construction LED4 LED5 R10 C5 R5 The tilt switch is connected across the LED6 R6 C8 R7 pins of JP2 (see the circuit diagram in Fig- SMTU-2032-1 LED7 IC1 CR2032 - ure 1). It is debounced by R8, R10 and + C6 Q1 C7 C5 and then taken to port pin PD2 of the ATtiny microcontroller. Two miniature but- JP1 C4 tons (K1 and K2) connected to PD5 and PD8 provide the user controls for entering text. K3 is not used in the current version Figure 2. The double-sided printed circuit board mainly uses SMDs that can be soldered of the software, and so is not fitted. A DIP by hand. 66 02-2011 elektor
61002 READERS‘ PROJECTS Users’ guide Switching on hard-programmed in, while messages 2 to 4 follows: - Set S0 to the ON position. can be changed at will by the user. If a mes- sage is not programmed the letter ‘E’ (for - LED7: programming mode for the capital Displaying a message ‘empty’) will be displayed. letters ‘A’ to ‘Z’ and the space character (the - Hold the board so that LED 0 is at the top. space character is displayed as a rectangle Then quickly but regularly shake the unit to Programming a message (double LED during programming); and fro. flashes) - LED6: programming mode for the lower- - Select message 2, 3 or 4 according to the case letters ‘a’ to ‘z’ and the space character; Selecting a message (single LED flashes) instructions above. - LED5: programming mode for the digits - Hold the board still, and LED 7 will continu- - Hold down K1 and K2 simultaneously ‘0’ to ‘9’ and the space character; ously emit single flashes. until the LED flickers and then release the - LED4: programming mode for symbols, - Hold down button K2 until LED 7 flickers, buttons. LED7 will now continuously emit accented characters, punctuation and the and then release the button. LED 6 will then double flashes which means that the unit space character; start to emit single flashes continuously, and is ready to be programmed with a capital - LED3: erase functions B (‘backspace’, de- message 2 is ready for display. letter. letes the most recently entered character) - Hold down button K2 until LED 6 flickers, - Shake the board, and the currently select- and C (‘clear’, deletes the entire message). and then release the button. LED 5 will then ed letter (‘A’ initially) will be displayed. To execute the erase function, hold down start to emit single flashes continuously, and - Repeatedly press button K1 or K2 brief- K1 until LED3 flickers. message 3 is ready for display. ly. This changes the selected letter forwards - Hold down button K2 until LED 5 flickers, or backwards through the sequence ‘A’, Leaving programming mode and then release the button. LED 4 will then ‘B’, ‘C’, and so on to ‘Z’. To program the - Hold down buttons K1 and K2 simul- start to emit single flashes continuously, and selected letter, hold down K1 until the LED taneously until the LED flashes, and then message 4 is ready for display. flickers. To switch between programming release both buttons. The most recently se- modes, hold down K2 until the LED flickers. lected (or edited) message will be displayed. Four messages are available. Message 1 is The programming modes are indicated as connections are made by tracks on the sages, messages 2, 3 and 4 can be edited sage directly into the EEPROM of the ATtiny circuit board. If the ATtiny2313 is only to using the buttons; message # 1, however, is microcontroller using a programmer. be programmed after it is soldered to the hard-programmed into the device and can- (090337) board, the four tracks joining the header not normally be changed or erased. There is, pads need to be cut and a 2mm pitch header however, a special way to change this mes- [1] http://www.elektor.com/090337 (includes soldered on. After programming the broken sage: in quick succession press K2, K2, K2, software download) connections must be restored: this can be K1, K1 and then K2. LED7 will then flicker done by plugging a suitably-wired socket to briefly to confirm that the special mode has the programming connector. been entered, and message 1 can now be About the author The resistors are all 0805 SMD types, as edited. To protect the message once more, Kurt Schuster is a self-employed electron- are all the capacitors with the exception of use the same magic button sequence. It ics engineer and software developer. C6 (a 47 μF 6 V electrolytic, radial, 2.5 mm is also possible, of course, to enter a mes- pitch). Soldering the microcontroller in its SOIC package requires a fine bit and a little confidence in SMD work. Pin 1 of the micro- controller is indicated by a small dot on the printed circuit board. With a little skill with the soldering iron the SMD crystal can be replaced by a wired device or by a ceramic resonator. If a resonator is used capacitors C7 and C8 should be removed, and the mid- dle contact of the resonator should be con- nected to the ground via near C7 and C8 (see Figure 3). It is a good idea to fit the microcontroller before the crystal as other- wise the room left for soldering is a bit tight. Figure 3. The top side of the printed circuit Figure 4. The underside of the printed board, with horizontally-mounted tilt circuit board, with the button cell, Programming and operation switch and 4 MHz ceramic resonator. smoothing capacitor, on-off switch and the The text box gives an overview of how to two buttons that are used to operate the operate the device. Of the four stored mes- device and enter messages. elektor 02-2011 67
61002 USB IDs How to Get Your Own USB ID Options and costs By Harry Baggen (Elektor Netherlands Editorial) Every device with a USB interface needs to have a set of ID numbers that enable it to register with a host (computer or other equipment) so the host can take the appropriate action. Is it also necessary to have these ID numbers for devices you develop yourself, and if so, how can you get your own ID numbers for your products? Here we report on the results of a brief survey. Nowadays you find products with USB interfaces just about every- in USB numbers and added a corresponding clause to the regula- where, ranging from practical devices such as external USB hard tions. However, there is one company that still does this (MCS Elec; disks to frivolous gadgets such as USB coffee mug heaters. Every see [2]), based on the stance that the rules were amended after it USB device that you connect to a computer (known in USB ter- bought its VID. minology as a host) uses two ID codes to register with the com- If you use Atmel microcontrollers, there is also another option. If puter: a vendor ID (VID) and a product ID (PID), each of which is a you use the V-USB driver [3], you receive a VID/PID set free of charge 16-bit number (for example, 0x0424 and 0x0531). From this set of if you agree to adhere to the conditions of the GNU general public ID codes, the operating system of the PC determines what sort of licence (GPL) governing the V-USB project. If you do not wish to device is connected, what designation should be assigned to it, and release the software you develop, as required by the terms of the what driver should be used for it. GPL, you can also purchase one or more VID/PID sets. For hobby use, These numbers are administered by the USB Implementers Forum each set costs about £/€ 10. (USB IF [1]), an organisation that was founded by various computer What about the situation where you develop a device with a USB companies and ensures that manufacturers of USB devices comply interface IC in its circuit? Usually the IC manufacturer has its own with the formulated USB standards. VID and assigns a separate PID to each individual product with a USB interface. You can then use these products to develop prototypes Buying your own VID of devices or circuits. If you develop a device with a USB port and you want to market it The next question is: what if you wish to make products on a mod- commercially, you can request your own VID from the USB IF. There est scale? We found two manufacturers who are willing to do a bit are several options, although they are actually oriented toward more for their customers in this regard. Microchip has a large num- mass production and not intended for devices such as prototypes. ber of PICs with integrated USB interfaces in its product line. On the Briefly, the options are: Microchip website you can find a document [4] that you can use to apply for a sublicence. With this sublicence, you receive the Micro- • Become a member of the USB IF (membership fee: US$ 4000 chip VID and your own PID, which you can use for your product. This per year). You will be assigned a VID at no additional cost. • Purchase a USB logo licence (fee: US$ 2000). This licence is good for two years. • Purchase a VID alone (fee: US$ 2000). With this option, you are not allowed to show the USB logo on your products. Once you have been assigned a VID, you receive a large block of PID numbers that you may assign as you see fit. The number of PIDs is large enough (around 65,000) that manufacturers of USB prod- ucts don’t have to worry about using them up too quickly. Only one number is necessary for each product type or model, so each individual product does not need to be assigned a separate number. Prototypes and small-scale production What can you do if you want to use your own VID and PID for a single prototype or small volume of products? You probably don’t wish to spend a large amount of money for this. In the past, there were a few companies that bought their own VIDs and then sold small blocks of PIDs to people who wanted to use them for their prototypes and their own products, but the USB IF disapproved of this arrangement. Some time ago it prohibited this form of trading Figure 1. The USB Implementers Forum administers all vendor IDs. 68 02-2011 elektor
61002 Advertisement INDEX OF ADVERTISERS Astrobe, Showcase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.astrobe.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Atomic Programming Ltd, Showcase . . . .www.atomicprogramming.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Avit Research, Showcase. . . . . . . . . . . . .www.avitresearch.co.uk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Beta Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.pcb-pool.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Black Robotics, Showcase . . . . . . . . . . . .www.blackrobotics.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 CEDA, Showcase. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.ceda.in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Designer Systems, Showcase . . . . . . . . .www.designersystems.co.uk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Easysync, Showcase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.easysync.co.uk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Elnec, Showcase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.elnec.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Embedded Adventures, Showcase . . . . . .www.embeddedadventures.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 is handy if you want to manufacture products on a small scale. In Eurocircuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.eurocircuits.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 this regard, the only condition imposed by Microchip is that the pro- duction volume must not exceed 10,000 units. As far as we know, EzPCB/Beijing Draco Electronics Ltd. . . . .www.v-module.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 there are no other costs associated with this, although Microchip First Technology Transfer Ltd, Showcase .www.ftt.co.uk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 naturally makes money on the ICs you buy from them. FTDI is a semiconductor manufacturer that has become very well FlexiPanel Ltd, Showcase . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.flexipanel.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 known for its USB interface ICs, which make it very easy to provide a USB connection for a device with a serial interface. FTDI also sup- Future Technology Devices, Showcase . . .www.ftdichip.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 plies RS232 connectors with integrated USB ICs, and of course vari- Hameg, Showcase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.hameg.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 ous types of adapter cables, such as USB to TTL). On FTDI’s website you can find a PDF document [5] that clearly explains which VIDs HexWax Ltd, Showcase . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.hexwax.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 and PIDs are used by FTDI and what options are available to users of FTDI ICs. Here again, it is possible to apply for a unique block of Labcenter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.labcenter.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 product IDs for use in prototypes and small-scale production, with no specific quantities mentioned. Linear Audio, Showcase. . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.linearaudio.net. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 With other manufacturers that also have a lot of ICs with USB inter- MikroElektronika. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.mikroe.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 faces in their product lines, such as Atmel, Analog Devices, Freescale and TI, we were unfortunately not able to find any option for apply- MQP Electronics, Showcase. . . . . . . . . . .www.mqp.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 ing for your own block of PIDs. With these products, the VID/PID pairs programmed into the ICs can only be used for circuit devel- NXP Contest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.circuitcellar.com/nxpmbeddesignchallenge . . 31 opment. In most of the documentation, it is simply noted that you NXP Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.nxp.com/microcontrollers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 need a separate VID/PID set for each product you develop, with a recommendation to contact the USB IF or visit their website. Per- Pico. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.picotech.com/scope2034 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 haps these companies could take a cue from Microchip and FTDI to make things a bit easier for users who manufacture products on a Quasar Electronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.quasarelectronics.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 modest scale (as long as the USB IF doesn’t decide to prohibit this sort of arrangement). Relchron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.proto-pic.co.uk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Robot Electronics, Showcase . . . . . . . . . .www.robot-electronics.co.uk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 If you are curious about the VIDs assigned to all sorts of manufac- turers, you can visit the website at [6] to view a list. Robotiq, Showcase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.robotiq.co.uk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 (100718-I) Showcase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78, 79 Internet Links Steorn SKDB Lite, Showcase . . . . . . . . . .www.kdb.steorn.com/ref25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 [1] www.usb.org/home Virtins Technology, Showcase . . . . . . . . .www.virtins.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 [2] www.mcselec.com (look in the shop under Hardware/USB) [3] www.obdev.at/products/vusb/license.html [4] ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/AppNotes/Application%20 Advertising space for the issue 15 March 2011 for%20USB%20Vendor%20ID%20Sublicense.pdf may be reserved not later than 15 February 2011 [5] www.ftdichip.com/Support/Documents/TechnicalNotes/ with Elektor International Media - Allee 1, 6141 AV Limbricht, the Netherlands Telephone 0031 (0) 46 4389444 - Fax 0031 (0) 46 4370161 - TN_100_USB_VID-PID_Guidelines.pdf e-mail: advertenties@elektor.com to whom all correspondence, copy instructions and artwork should be addressed. [6] www.linux-usb.org/usb.ids elektor 02-2011 69
61002 LINUX SMS GATEWAY TEXT Me! from 1, PC Junkyard An £0.00 SMS gateway centre using Linux and a recycled PC By Hans Henrik Skovgaard (Denmark) In this small project a discarded PC together with an old mobile phone will both be granted a second lease of life. With the ‘Damn-Small-Linux’ (DSL) variant running on the PC and the mobile phone attached, the basics of a small, totally free SMS gateway will be demonstrated. Fasten your seatbelts. If like me you refuse to throw away electronic assemblies that are RS232 — like in functional but ‘less fashionable’, you will most likely too have man- t h e N ovem b er aged to accumulate several old PCs and maybe a few old mobile 2008 article. Con- phones. Of course, you will have hidden your clunkers in an artful figuring Linux for manner from viewing by a house-proud partner. A veritable 2011 both cases will be Aladdin’s cave. described —actually After several years, some of my own such treasures were very close three ways to con- to reaching their final destination at the ‘recycling place’ (aka ‘Old- nect a mobile phone Silicon Heaven’). That was until I saw the “Remote control by Mobile to the Linux PC. Phone” article in Elektor’s November 2008 issue, where a mobile One final thing before phone got attached to a dedicated piece of hardware. However we continue: change since I’m currently into Damn Small Linux coding I wanted to con- the PC BIOS so it will nect a phone to a PC, run Linux and make something useful out of boot from the CD-ROM it all. It is now up to you to decide if this is clever, crafty or crazy, but drive. here I got DSL up and running, attached the mobile phone to the Damn Small Linux is a stripped down version of another Linux distri- PC, installed software and built the basics of my very own small SMS bution called Knoppix. It’s a free Linux distribution for the x86 fam- gateway. Here’s how you can do it, too. ily of personal computers and fits inside a 50 MB live CD. One of the reasons why DSL is so small is that instead of using KDE or GNOME as its desktop it employs one of the two ‘lightweight’ Installing DSL desktops that go by the names of ‘Fluxbox’ and ‘JWM’. This makes People already into Linux, in particular Damn Small Linux (DSL), will DSL an ideal choice to run on junked hardware and thereby bring possibly scoff at the level of detail in this article, but the aim is to back new life to it. You may choose to use another Linux distribution enable you to set up such a system all by yourself even if you’re where there will most likely be differences but nothing that can’t be new to Linux. managed. A link to the DSL home page can be found at [1]. In Table 1 you can see the hardware configuration used for this pro- At the time of writing there are two maintained versions of DSL: ject. The PC was originally a Dell Dimension XPS T600r but in good an older version called DSL-3.4.12 which uses Linux kernel version PC Junkyard fashion the only bits of it left by now are the mother- 2.4.26 and a newer one called DSL-4.4.10 which uses Linux kernel board and the power supply. No preferences are expressed here — version 2.4.31. Sure, there exists a newer Linux kernel but this is check out what you have lying around, dig it out and see if it works how DSL is configured in order to keep the system small and fast. for you. For the purpose of this article, version DSL-3.4.12 was downloaded There is one thing though that needs to be in place. Your old PC from [2], the file you want is identified as “dsl-3.4.12.iso”. The reason must have either a USB or an RS232 connector. You need to align for choosing the DSL-3.4.12 version is mainly due to the author’s ‘C’ this with the method of connecting the mobile phone to the PC. development environment used for the control centre described in Nowadays USB is the port of choice but not so long ago it was his book [3]. Once downloaded, use your favourite CD burning soft- 70 02-2011 elektor
61002 LINUX SMS GATEWAY ware to make a bootable CD containing DSL. Note that you have Table 1. Junkyard PC hardware configuration (example) downloaded an ISO image file, this is essential to know when you burn the CD-ROM for later use. CPU Pentium III 600MHz The CD-ROM you just made is a Live CD allowing you to boot up a RAM: 384 Mbytes fully functional Linux system running completely in RAM. BIOS: PhoenixBIOS 4.0 release 6.0 As you probably want to install a permanent system, the next thing to do – after the first boot up — is to install DSL on your old PC’s Hard disk: 10 GByte (Samsung) hard disk. Now that’s straightforward and can be found under the Network card: Realtek 100Mbit card menu item: Display adaptor: APPS->Tools->Install to Hard Drive. CD-ROM drive: NEC DVD drive Note that the menu is found by right clicking anywhere on the desk- top. Please refer to the description at the end of this article if you need help installing DSL. Connect the mobile phone Like in the November 2008 article a Siemens mobile phone is being used, in this case a C65 mainly because the author contributed to developing it. Not surprisingly the AT command set [4] interface and the phone proper are ‘old stomping ground’. Don’t feel tied to using the C65 phone in this project though, and as you can see when we get to the SMS gateway software, one of the most commonly used mobiles are [… drumroll …] Nokia phones. In Figure 1 you can see what the interface cables to the C65 look like. To the right in the picture is the RS232 connector and in the centre, the actual phone connector. To the left there is a small power adaptor in order to keep the phone running so you never need to turn it off and recharge it. If you attach the phone to the RS232 interface right away you will Figure 1. Siemens C65 mobile phone interface cables. then be able to communicate with the phone via the device inter- face called /dev/ttyS0. If you have done some C programming (if not there’s a good Elektor book on this [7]) you will know how to read from and write to a file. It is exactly the same thing here. In order to read or write to the phone you read or write to /dev/ttyS0. In order to verify that the phone is connected and working there is a small program called ‘microcom’ you can use, see Figure 2. In case your PC has a USB connector and no RS232 interface you can use an USB-RS232 converter. If you do that you will get a different device interface this time called /dev/ttyUSB0. In order to use ‘microcom’ to test your connection this time you need to tell ‘micro- com’ which interface to use. This is done as shown in Figure 3. If your phone and PC both have USB connectivity, just connect them Figure 2. microcom w. /dev/ttyS0. together and your device interface will then be /dev/ACM0. You ver- ify the connection the same way as with the USB-RS232 converter. When connecting the phone via the USB interface you need to set Table 2. Possible device interfaces. up your phone in ‘modem’ mode or similar. In many cases a mobile phone has a USB mode setting where you can choose between Interface Device ‘mass storage’, ‘modem’ and maybe some more modes. You may Std RS232 /dev/ttyS0 have to do some testing to see what’s working. All in all it gives you USB - RS232 /dev/ttyUSB0 possibilities listed in Table 2. USB /dev/ttyACM0 You will be able to install support for both IrDA and Bluetooth as elektor 02-2011 71
61002 LINUX SMS GATEWAY DSL step by step installation Listen up PC users, DSL here means Damn Small Linux, not Digital Subscriber Line. 1. Insert the Live CD in you CD-ROM drive and power up the PC. Remember to set the boot sequence to CD-ROM first. 2. Set the language like “boot: dsl lang=xx” (where xx = language code) then hit Enter. You can see more lan- guage definitions by pressing F2. This should bring up you DSL desktop. DSL menus are found by right clicking anywhere outside a program on the desktop. Find the following menu: APPS->Tools->Install to Hard Drive. 3. You are now ready to install DSL on your hard disk. Please note all data present before the installation will be lost after the installation. During the installation you will be asked some questions which most likely should have the following answers: Enter the target partition: hda2 (or hda1) Do you wish to support multiuser login: n Use journalized ext3 filesystem: n Continue: y (This was your last warning to save the content on the PC) Proceed to install a boot loader: y Use [G]rub MBR or [L]ilo Active Partion: g (If you selected hda2 above the following will appear) Do you have windows installed: no Reboot: yes 4. You should now remove the CD and see your system reboot for the first time. The first picture will be the Grub boot loader startup picture. After that you will be asked to assign your system a root and a user dsl password. After that you should then get your DSL desktop up. well but that’s maybe another article. in a directory where you can find it later as you need to include the You should hopefully now have a running Linux system and a work- location in a boot file. The default download location is /tmp. ing mobile phone attached. High time to install some software. As indicated in the DSL description for gnokii you need to download the following software packages as well: - gtk+-2.12.9.uci Installing gnokii - bluez-utils.uci. The SMS gateway software we’re going to use is the software from gnokii [5]. In the following a lot of file manipulation will take place. Like the gnokii software these are also located under ‘testing’ in the You can do this either via a terminal window using Linux commands MyDSL Extension tool and should be saved in the same directory as or use the built-in file manager called Emelfm. This file manager can the gnokii software. Once downloaded the software packages will be accessed by the Emelfm icon on the desktop. be installed in the /opt directory — or mounted as they will not be If you are a hardcore Linux user you will now download the code present there following the next reboot. and compile it yourself. You can still do that but fortunately you In order to have the newly installed software available after a reboot will also be able to find prefab software packages made by the DSL you need to add the following community. The ready to run software packages can be found via the MyDSL - mydsl-load /tmp/gnokii-0.6.25.uci (Extension tool) icon on the desktop. Once started you will be able - mydsl-load /tmp/gtk+-2.12.9.uci to see lots of precompiled (almost) ready-to-install applications. - mydsl-load /tmp/ bluez-utils.uci The installations we are interested in here can be found under the ‘Testing’ tab! at the end of the file /opt/bootlocal.sh. If hardcore you can use the Please remember that you need to have Internet access in order ‘Beaver’ or ‘VI’-editor to edit /opt/bootlocal.sh. You can verify that to use the MyDSL tool. If not, you will be unable to see the list of your software packages are fully mounted by right clicking the precompiled applications and therefore unable to download them. MyDSL icon and selecting ‘UCI tool’. This displays which UCI pack- Under ‘testing’ you will find the gnokii-0.6.25.uci package. The UCI ages are loaded. extension indicates that it is a Universal Compressed ISO image. Next thing to do is to set-up gnokii. This is done by copying the file: Extensions with the .uci format are mounted as a separate file sys- /opt/gnokii-0.6.25/gnokiirc tem to minimize RAM usage. On mounting, see [6]. to the home directory for the user dsl — which is /home/dsl — and You download the software package by selecting it and after having rename the file to “.gnokiirc” (<dot>gnokiirc). In case you want to read the instructions hit ‘download’. You should save the software run the software as root you need to copy the file to the root-home 72 02-2011 elektor
61002 LINUX SMS GATEWAY directory – which is /root. in a terminal window. Remember to have your mobile phone In the config file you need to specify the correct port. You can switched on. see which port you should select in Table 2. It’s recommended to specify: You will hopefully see lots of AT commands flying across the screen, port=/dev/ttyUSB0 ending with a listing of your phone’s IMEI number, Manufacturer, when a USB-RS232 converter is used. Model and Product name. You also need to specify which model you will be using. Here If it is not working you’re in for a debug session. Some hints to a you need to read the documentation and/or consult the gnokii conclusion can be found in the file: homepage. /var/log/messages I specified model=AT You may also want to increase the gnokii debug information in the as I wanted to use the AT-command mode, which is fully supported gnokii config file mentioned earlier. by the C65 phone. After installation you will have noticed two additional icons (Gnocky By default it should not be necessary to change more in the config and Xgnokii). They are the entry points to a GUI interface. In order to file. The rest of the parameters are explained if you want to experi- use them you need to do some initialisation of the new GTK library ment with them. before you reboot your PC for the first time after the download and To verify that your system is working you should now run the fol- installation of the software. lowing command: The initialisation is done via the MyDSL menu, which has been gnokii —-identify extended by two new entries: Advertisement See your project in print! Elektor magazine is looking for Technical Authors/Design Engineers If you have a an innovative or original project you’d like to share with Elektor’s 140 k+ readership and the electronics community a above average skills in designing electronic circuits a experience in writing electronics-related software a basic skills in complementing your hardware or software with explanatory text a a PC, email and Internet access for efficient communications with Elektor’s centrally located team of editors and technicians then don’t hesitate to contact us for exciting opportunities to get your project or feature article published. Our Author Guidelines are at: www.elektor.com/authors. Elektor Jan Buiting MA, Editor Regus Brentford, 1000 Great West Road, Brentford TW8 9HH, United Kingdom Email: editor@elektor.com elektor 02-2011 73
61002 LINUX SMS GATEWAY Figure 4. If you like working with old computers and Linux, this book comes highly recommended. gnokii-0-6-25 GTK+-2.12.9-setup The actual initialisation of the new GTK library is achieved via the menu item: MyDSL->GTK+-2.12.9-setup->GTK+-2.12.9-setup And then just follow the instructions. This makes gnokii look continuously for incoming Text msgs and After the initialisation of the GTK library you can use the two GUI save them into a mailbox under interfaces (Gnocky and Xgnokii) either via the icons on the desktop /tmp/sms/* (actual filename varies). or via the MyDSL menu. Such a file could look like this: One final tip before we continue using the actual software: in case /tmp/sms/sms_4512345678_1189_0 you want to keep the new menu items in the MyDSL menu listing, and will contain the content as you would see it on your mobile you should save a copy of the file phone. There will be no additional information present. /home/dsl/.fluxbox/mydsl.menu and replace the myDSL.menu file that will be created after a reboot If everything works as expected, incoming Texts are never actually of the PC. saved in the phone. You exit the gnokii smsreader mode by pressing <ctrl>–<c>. Please note that you will not be able to receive and send Text mes- Using gnokii sages at the same time. This is due to the way Linux works. When If everything you’ve done so far has been successful you should now you start the gnokii program it will lock the device specified with the be ready to send your first Text (SMS) message. Before continuing, port command in the gnokii config file, thereby preventing other be cautioned that “depending on your mobile phone subscrip- programs from using the port. tion, sending excessive numbers of Text messages may cost you What I have shown so far is the basic stuff that must be present a fortune if you are not careful. No monies returned.” Having said in order to set up a small rudimentary TEXT Gateway. In a further that, let’s continue. article I will show how to install an Apache server and make the received Texts available to ‘the public’ and present a more stream- Sending Text lined interface to send Texts around — overcoming the need to use In order to text somebody, start a terminal window so you can enter the command line interface. commands. If you just enter the following: If you’re interested in the full details of how to design your own gnokii Embedded Linux Control Centre on a PC, check out the Elektor book you will see all the arguments that can be used with gnokii. The ones with that title [3] (Figure 4). we are interested in is the –sendsms argument. So, to send a Text (090939) message (SMS) you need to enter the following: echo “enter text here” | gnokii --sendsms +4412345678 Internet Links Where +4412345678 is the phone number with the country code [1] DSL homepage: http://damnsmalllinux.org/ included (+44 for United Kingdom). Note that there is no space [2] DSL download link: between ‘—‘and ‘sendsms’. http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/damnsmall/ In the terminal window you should hopefully once again see many current/dsl-3.x/ AT commands flying across the screen ending with the following [3] Design your own Embedded Linux Control Centre on a PC: text before the command prompt returns: www.elektor.com/products/books/computer/ Message sent (reference: 2) embedded-linux.529463.lynkx Send succeeded! [4] AT command set decription: Serial device: closing device. The number after reference: may differ. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT_commands [5] gnokii homepage : http://www.gnokii.org/ Receiving Text [6] Two descriptions of mounting file systems: In order to receive Text (SMS messages) we need to make use of one http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_%28computing%29 of the other arguments to gnokii: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_%28Unix%29 --smsreader So to receive Texts you should enter the following command in a [7] C Programming for Embedded Microcontrollers: terminal window: www.elektor.com/products/books/microcontrollers/ gnokii --smsreader c-programming-for-embedded-microcontrollers.868705.lynkx 74 02-2011 elektor
61002 INFOTAINMENT Hexadoku Puzzle with an electronics touch Is your hexadecimal calculus a bit rusty? Not to worry, for this ‘electronified’ puzzle the requirements are limited to counting from 0 to F, persistence and some logic reasoning to arrive at the solution. Enter the right numbers in the puzzle, send the ones in the grey boxes to us and you automatically enter the prize draw for four Elektor Shop vouchers. Have fun! The instructions for this puzzle are straightforward. Fully geared to in each column and in each of the 4×4 boxes (marked by the thicker electronics fans and programmers, the Hexadoku puzzle employs black lines). A number of clues are given in the puzzle and these the hexadecimal range 0 through F. In the diagram composed of determine the start situation. Correct entries received enter a draw 16 × 16 boxes, enter numbers such that all hexadecimal numbers for a main prize and three lesser prizes. All you need to do is send us 0 through F (that’s 0-9 and A-F) occur once only in each row, once the numbers in the grey boxes. Solve Hexadoku and win! Participate! Correct solutions received from the entire Elektor readership automati- Before March 1, 2011, send your solution (the numbers in the grey cally enter a prize draw for one Elektor Shop voucher worth £ 80.00 boxes) by email, fax or post to and three Elektor Shop Vouchers worth £ 40.00 each, which should Elektor Hexadoku – 1000, Great West Road – Brentford TW8 9HH encourage all Elektor readers to participate. United Kingdom. Fax (+44) 208 2614447 Email: hexadoku@elektor.com Prize winners The solution of the December 2010 Hexadoku is: 381F0. The £80.00 voucher has been awarded to: B. Horn (Germany). The £40.00 vouchers have been awarded to: Karin Menzel (Germany), Serge Sussel (France), Christian Klems (The Netherlands). Congratulations everyone! 9 C F 8 4 D 7 3 A E 2 5 B 1 0 6 1 E 4 B 2 A 6 C 7 0 8 D 5 3 9 F 0 7 2 D 1 B 5 F 6 9 C 3 8 E A 4 3 A 5 6 E 9 0 8 4 B F 1 C D 2 7 4 F 8 3 5 C 2 9 0 6 E A D 7 B 1 A 9 D 0 B 7 E 6 3 C 1 2 4 F 5 8 7 1 6 E 8 4 F A B D 5 9 3 0 C 2 B 2 C 5 D 0 3 1 F 4 7 8 9 A 6 E D 8 3 9 F 1 4 0 C A B 6 E 2 7 5 5 B A 7 3 6 C 2 8 1 9 E F 4 D 0 E 4 1 2 7 5 9 B D 3 0 F A 6 8 C C 6 0 F A 8 D E 5 2 4 7 1 9 3 B F D 7 1 0 E A 5 9 8 6 C 2 B 4 3 6 3 E 4 C 2 8 D 1 7 A B 0 5 F 9 2 5 9 C 6 3 B 4 E F D 0 7 8 1 A 8 0 B A 9 F 1 7 2 5 3 4 6 C E D The competition is not open to employees of Elektor International Media, its business partners and/or associated publishing houses. elektor 02-2011 75
61002 RETRONICS Slide Rules & the Electronic Engineer By Reginald W. Neale (USA) Engineers translate ideas into Semiconductor notes that if auto- products. They’re limited by the motive technology had followed tools available for facilitating that the same trajectory as computer translation. Over the span of my technology, today you would be engineering career, those tools able to buy a Chevy for a penny have undergone a dramatic trans- and it would get 10,000 miles per formation. I hope you will agree gallon. Sounds like hyperbole? In that it’s interesting to review on 1948, ENIAC cost $500 k and per- this month’s Retronics pages formed 0.002 MIPS. The current some of the rich history of those Digi-Key catalogue lists embed- changes. First-hand knowledge of ded controllers for $0.50 that per- much of this material is fast disap- form 2 MIPS. Apply those same pearing. Fortunately, the web has factors to the 1948 Chevy at $2 k some remarkable archives that and 15 mpg and Rodgers’ claim will help to preserve it. doesn’t look so preposterous. Nothing new, just faster! Reference tables and Let’s take a brief look at the tech- pencils nology that produced radios, Compared to the design world rockets, bridges and automo- we take for granted today, the biles sixty years ago, when many environment of a mid-twentieth of today’s tools were yet to be century designer was awkward invented. Consider that your and inefficient. Whatever tech- computer, calculator and soft- nical information you couldn’t ware design package don’t do keep in your head had to be anything fundamentally new, retrieved from reference books. they just make the old tasks New advances in technology took easier and orders of magnitude months or even years to trickle faster. To one of today’s newly down from laboratories to arti- minted engineers, the pace of cles printed in trade magazines yesterday’s product life cycles and scientific publications. There would appear glacial; the design 1 was also an overwhelming gen- time and effort per product would der bias — engineers were almost seem exhausting. And there were exclusively male. once entire disciplines, like high- performance filter design, whose Here’s an example of how pain- commercial potential was unre- ful it could be to complete even alized because the calculations a simple calculation, back when could be so tedious. you had to do it the hard way. Suppose you need to find an accu- Obviously, the tool revolution rate value for the reactance of a has been powered by continuous 220 pF capacitor at 6.085 MHz. advances in semiconductor tech- Picking up your paper and pencil, nology. Transistors, integrated cir- you write down Xc = 1/(2πfC). You cuits and microcontrollers have open up your book of logarithm relentlessly driven increases in tables. You look up the logarithm the computing power available of each factor and you do the to electronic engineers. Moore’s 2 arithmetic, grinding out a result Law predicts that semiconductor of 2.07514. capability roughly doubles every two years. The cumulative effect of In Figure 1, the nearest value in the table is .07518. Using the Pro- this exponential increase has been profound. T.J. Rodgers of Cypress portional Parts chart at the right, you determine that the antilog is 76 02-2011 elektor
61002 RETRONICS approximately 1189. Your calcula- aligned. A couple of significant tion results in a characteristic or figures for the standard-sized rule exponent of 2, so the solution is would be typical. What a contrast Xc = 118.9 ohms. Whew! And you to the calculator accessory in my have to hope you didn’t make any three year old PDA, which cranks dumb mistakes in your arithmetic out twelve significant figures as or in using the tables. No wonder soon as you hit the ENTER key! reactance nomograms and other charts were so popular in mid- From Burroughs & Co. century technical publications. to HP and TI Usually they could get you close he typical engineering student enough for building a prototype proudly carried his rule hanging circuit, and you could tweak the from his belt, in a leather scab- value from there. bard. If 2010 students have even heard of slide rules, they prob- Slide rulez ably associate them with the era Unless the highest precision was of powdered wigs and quill pens. needed, most mid-century engi- neers would have skipped the In the early ‘70s when simple above hand calculation in favour four-function handheld calcula- of using a slide rule. Slide rules tors were flooding the market, are nearly as old as logarithms. A scientific calculators were still slide rule is simply a mechanical priced out of reach for most engi- analogue computer that adds and neers. The geek community soon subtracts logarithms by repre- developed clever algorithms to senting them as distances. Much implement transcendental func- less accurate than log tables; but tions (Figure 3) on the cheap again, close enough for many pur- four-bangers from Burroughs and poses and far, far quicker. Slide other manufacturers. But just as rules don’t have decimal points, these shortcuts hit their stride, so the user is forced to keep track 3 the first affordable scientific hand- of it mentally. That might sound held calculators finally arrived: like a nuisance, but it’s a mental the Hewlett-Packard HP-35 and skill that engineers should still the Texas Instruments SR-50 exercise today as a reality check. (Figure 4). It would take almost another decade for real personal Figure 2 shows a selection of computers to become widely slide rules: a miniature combina- available, but the handhelds made tion slide rule and caliper that fits logarithm tables and slide rules into a pocket protector, and two obsolete almost overnight. standard 10-inch rules with user (100802) manuals. Circular rules were also available, along with elaborate helical rules boasting spiral scales equivalent to 10 feet in length! Accuracy depends on the skill of the user, the size of the rule, and how carefully the scales are 4 Retronics is a monthly column covering vintage electronics including legendary Elektor designs. Contributions, suggestions and requests are welcomed; please send an email to editor@elektor.com elektor 02-2011 77
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61002 products and services directory HEXWAX LTD www.hexwax.com www.elektor.com STEORN SKDB LITE Join the SKDB Lite, the place World leaders in Driver-Free USB ICs: to understand, discuss and experiment with magnetics. • USB-UART/SPI/I2C bridges • TEAleaf-USB authentication dongles ROBOT ELECTRONICS • Learn more about magnetics and electromagnetics • expandIO-USB I/O USB expander http://www.robot-electronics.co.uk • Participate in developer forums and discussion • USB-FileSys flash drive with SPI interface Advanced Sensors and Electronics for Robotics surrounding magnetics and related topics. • USB-DAQ data logging flash drive • Ultrasonic Range Finders For FREE access to SKDB Lite: • Compass modules https://kdb.steorn.com/ref25 • Infra-Red Thermal sensors • Motor Controllers VIRTINS TECHNOLOGY • Vision Systems www.virtins.com • Wireless Telemetry Links PC and Pocket PC based • Embedded Controllers virtual instrument such as sound card real time oscilloscope, spectrum analyzer, signal generator, ROBOTIQ multimeter, sound meter, http://www.robotiq.co.uk distortion analyzer, LCR meter. 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MQP ELECTRONICS Fun for the whole family! www.mqp.com Now, available in time for X-mas • Low cost USB Bus Analysers • High, Full or Low speed captures • Graphical analysis and filtering • Arduino Starter Kits *NEW!!* • Lego NXT Mindstorms www. • Automatic speed detection • Bus powered from high speed PC • Affordable Embedded Linux Boards • Vex Robotics (kits and components) elektor. • Capture buttons and feature connector • Optional analysis classes • POB Robots (kits and components) email: sales@robotiq.co.uk Tel: 020 8669 0769 com SHOWCASE YOUR COMPANY HERE Elektor Electronics has a feature to help • For just £242 + VAT (£22 per issue for image - e.g. a product shot, a screen shot customers promote their business, eleven issues) Elektor will publish your from your site, a company logo - your Showcase - a permanent feature of the company name, website address and a choice magazine where you will be able to showcase 30-word description your products and services. • For £363 + VAT for the year (£33 per Places are limited and spaces will go on issue for eleven issues) we will publish a strictly first come, first served basis. the above plus run a 3cm deep full colour So-please fax back your order today! I wish to promote my company, please book my space: • Text insertion only for £242 + VAT • Text and photo for £363 + VAT NAME: ..................................................................................................... ORGANISATION: ....................................................................................... JOB TITLE: ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 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61002 SHOP BOOKS, CD-ROMs, DVDs, KITS & MODULES Going Strong A world of electronics from a single shop! A must-have for audiophiles DVD Masterclass High- W! End Valve Amplifiers NE In this Masterclass Menno van der Veen will examine the predictability and perceptibility of the specifications of valve amplifiers. The DVD represents 3.5 hours of footage filmed in the grand meeting room of Elektor House. Bonus elements on the DVD include the complete Power- Point presentation (74 slides), scanned overhead sheets (22 pcs), AES Publica- tions mentioned during the Masterclass. Not forgetting the bombshell: 25 Elektor publications about valves. ISBN 978-0-905705-86-6 £24.90 • US $40.20 Offer Limited Period ! for Subscribers £4 DISCOUNTruary Fully elaborated electronics projects om/feb www.elektor.c 110 issues, more than 2,100 articles 309 Circuits DVD Elektoredition of the popular The present tenth CD/DVD-ROMs RFID, NFC, Zigbee, GPS and more 1990 throughbooks once again ‘30x Circuits’ series of 1999 DVD Wireless Toolbox contains a comprehensive variety of cir- This DVD-ROM contains the full range of cuits, sub-circuits, tips and tricks and de- On this DVD-ROM you’ll find a number of technical documents and tools that will enable you to 1990-1999 volumes (all 110 issues) of sign ideas for electronics. Among many add wireless data exchange to your electronics systems. The choice of equipment depends on Elektor Electronics magazine (PDF). The other inspiring topics, the following cat- the transmission distance: a few centimetres using Near Field Communication (NFC) or Radio more than 2,100 separate articles have egories are well presented in this book: Frequency Identification (RFID), tens of metres with the Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or ZigBee systems, or been classified chronologically by their test & measurement; RF (radio); comput- indeed thousands of kilometres using a module for receiving GPS data. In accordance with the dates of publication (month/year), but are ers and peripherals; audio & video; hobby principle of our Toolbox series, we’ve brought together technical documentation (spec. sheets, also listed alphabetically by topic. and modelling; microcontrollers; home & application notes, user guides, etc.) on various devices according to the frequency and/or pro- A comprehensive index enables you to garden; etcetera. tocol used. All of the documents are PDF files (in English). Browsing around the DVD is made easy search the entire DVD. by an HTML menu. 432 pages • ISBN 978-0-905705-69-9 ISBN 978-0-905705-76-7 £19.95 • US $39.95 ISBN 978-90-5381-268-6 • £28.50 • US $46.00 £69.00 • US $100.00 80 Prices and item descriptions subject to change. E. & O.E 02-2011 elektor
61002 75 Audio designs for home construction Bestseller! Visual Studio DVD The Audio Associated starter kit available Collection 3 C# 2010 Programming ARM Microcontrollers This DVD contains more than 75 different and PC interfacing This is the perfect book for people who want audio circuits from the volumes 2002-2008 This book is aimed at anyone who wants to to learn C and who want to use an mbed ARM of Elektor. The articles on the DVD-ROM learn about C# programming and interfac- microcontroller in an easy and fun way. The cover Amplifiers, Digital Audio, Loudspeak- ing to a PC. It covers programming con- mbed NXP LPC1768 uses cloud technology, ers, PC Audio, Test & Measurement and cepts from the basics to object oriented a revolutionary concept in software develop- Valves. Highlights include the ClariTy programming, displaying graphs, thread- ment. This means you do not need to in- 2x300 W Class-T amplifier, High-End Power ing and databases. The book is complete stall software on your PC in order to program Amp, Digital VU Meter, Valve Sound Con- with many full program examples, self as- the mbed! The only thing you need is a brow- verter, paX Power Amplifier, MP3 preamp sessment exercises and links to supporting ser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, and and much more. Using the included Adobe videos. All code examples used are availa- a USB port on your PC. No previous expe- Reader you are able to browse the articles ble – free of charge – from a special support rience or knowledge required. You can get on your computer, as well as print texts, cir- website. Professional quality software tools access to your project from any PC anywhere cuit diagrams and PCB layouts. are downloadable –also free of charge– in the world and continue working on it. from Microsoft. The Microsoft Visual Studio When you are done a few mouse clicks trans- ISBN 978-90-5381-263-1 2010 environment is extensively covered fer the program to your mbed hardware. £17.90 • US $28.90 with user controls and their properties, 250 pages • ISBN 978-0-905705-94-1 methods and events. Detailed guidance is £29.50 • US $47.60 provided for those wishing to control hard- ware from a PC with PC interfacing chapters which explain the legacy serial and parallel ports, analogue interfacing using the sound card and use of Microsoft DirectX drivers. Interfacing to the ubiquitous USB port is ex- Bestseller! plained in-depth with a detailed hardware and software design for a USB connected More than 75 power supply designs PIC-based hardware target included. CD The Power Supply 306 pages • ISBN 978-0-905705-95-8 £29.50 • US $47.60 Collection 1 This CD-ROM contains more than 75 differ- An introduction to digital control electronics More information on the ent power supply circuits from the volumes Experiments with 2001-2005 of Elektor. Highlights include Elektor Website: the Cuk Converter, Automatic Battery Digital Electronics Switchover, Battery Voltage LED, Digital www.elektor.com This book presents fundamental circuits Benchtop Power Supply, Lithium-Ion Elektor using gates, flip-flops and counters from the Charger, Electronic Fuse, High Voltage Reg- Regus Brentford CMOS 4000 Series. Learning these funda- ulator, Power Supply for USB Devices, Step- 1000 Great West Road mentals is best done using practical experi- up Conver ter for White LEDs, Vehicle Brentford ments. Each of the 50 experiments presented Adapter for Notebook PCs and much more. TW8 9HH in this book has a circuit diagram as well as a Using the included Adobe Reader you are United Kingdom detailed illustration of the circuit’s construc- able to browse the articles on your compu- Tel.: +44 20 8261 4509 tion on solderless breadboard. Building Books ter, as well as print texts, circuit diagrams Fax: +44 20 8261 4447 these digital circuits will improve your know- and PCB layouts. Email: sales@elektor.com ledge and will be fun to boot. ISBN 978-90-5381-265-5 176 pages • ISBN 978-0-905705-97-2 £17.90 • US $28.90 £26.50 • US $42.80 elektor 02-2011 81
61002 SHOP BOOKS, CD-ROMs, DVDs, KITS & MODULES Power Electronics in Motor Drives Principles, Application Books and Design Bestseller! Martin Brown NetWorker (December 2010) The Elektor DSP radio (July/August 2010) An Internet connection would be a valua- Principles, Application and Design ble addition to many projects, but often Many radio amateurs in practice use two Power Electronics designers are put off by the complexities receivers, one portable and the other a involved. The ‘NetWorker’, which consists fixed receiver with a PC control facility. in Motor Drives of a small printed circuit board, a free soft- The Elektor DSP radio can operate in ei- This book is aimed at people who want to ware library and a ready-to-use microcon- ther capacity, with a USB interface giving understand how AC inverter drives work troller-based web server, solves these the option of PC control. An additional and how they are used in industry. The problems and allows beginners to add In- feature of the USB interface is that it can book is much more about the practical ternet connectivity to their projects. More be used as the source of power for the re- design and application of drives than about experienced users will benefit from featu- ceiver, the audio output being connected the mathematical principles behind them. res such as SPI communications, power to the PC’s powered speakers. To allow The detailed electronics of DC and AC drive over Ethernet (PoE) and more. portable 6 V battery operation the circuit are explained, together with the theore- also provides for an audio amplifier with tical background and the practical design Module, ready assembled and tested one or two loudspeakers. issues such as cooling and protection. Art.# 100552-91 • £53.00 • US $85.50 PCB, assembled and tested 240 pages • ISBN 978-0-905705-89-7 £29.50 • US $47.60 Art.# 100126-91 • £149.00 • US $240.40 Digital Multi-Effects Reign with the Sceptre (March 2010) The ultimate tube amplifier reference book Unit (September 2010) This open-source & open-hardware pro- Kits & Modules Fundamental Amplifier ject aims to be more than just a little board It’s a simple fact: every recording sounds with a big microcontroller and a few use- Techniques better with the right sound effects. Here ful peripherals — it seeks to be a fast pro- The aim of this book is to give the reader we prove that it’s possible to generate a totyping system. To justify this title, in useful knowledge about electron tube tech- variety of effects digitally, including hall, addition to a very useful little board, we nology in the application of audio amplifi- chorus and flanger effects, without having also need user-friendly development tools ers, including their power supplies, for the to work yourself to the bone with DSP pro- and libraries that allow fast implementa- design and DIY construction of these elec- gramming. The circuit is built around a tion of the board’s peripherals. Ambitio- tron tube amplifiers. This is more than just highly integrated effects chip and featu- us? Maybe, but nothing should deter you building an electron tube amplifier from a res an intelligent user interface with an from becoming Master of Embedded Sys- schematic made from the design from LCD. The result is a treat for the eye and tems Universe with the help of the Elektor someone else. No modern simulations, but the ear. Sceptre. because you first understand the circuit cal- culations, then you can work with your Kit of parts including PCBs, programmed PCB, populated and tested, test software hands to build the circuit . controllers and EEPROM loaded (excluding Bluetooth module) 834 pages • ISBN 978-0-905705-93-4 Art.# 090835-71 • £165.00 • US $266.20 Art.# 090559-91• £89.00 • US $143.60 £65.00 • US $104.90 82 Prices and item descriptions subject to change. E. & O.E 02-2011 elektor
61002 £ US $ Bestsellers Product Shortlist February 2011 (No. 410) + + + Product Shor tlist Februar y: See www.elektor.com + + + January 2011 (No. 409) ARM Microcontrollers Nixie Tube Thermometer 090784-1 ...... Printed circuit board................................................. 12.40.......20.00 1 ISBN 978-0-905705-94-1 .... £29.50 .....US $47.60 090784-41 .... Programmed controller AT89C2051/24PU ................. 8.75.......14.10 Experiments with Digital Electronics Kits & Modules CD/DVD-ROMs Books Books Flight Data Recorder 071035-91 .... ATM18 controller module........................................... 7.30.......15.40 2 ISBN 978-0-905705-97-2 .... £26.50 .....US $42.80 090773-91 .... PCB, populated and tested C# 2010 Programming and PC interfacing with programmed bootloader .................................. 56.00.......90.00 100653-1 ...... Printed circuit board................................................. 12.95.......20.90 3 ISBN 978-0-905705-95-8 .... £29.50 .....US $47.60 Low-cost Headphone Amp Fundamental Amplifier Techniques 100500-71 .... Elektor Project Case ................................................. 16.80.......25.80 4 with Electron Tubes Kits & Mo- CD-ROMs 100701-1 ...... Printed circuit board.................................................. 8.75 ......14.10 ISBN 978-0-905705-93-4 .... £65.00 ...US $104.90 Wireless ECG Power Electronics in Motor Drives 080805-1 ...... Printed circuit board................................................... 8.75.......14.10 Support Board for Arduino Nano 5 ISBN 978-0-905705-89-7 .... £29.50 .....US $47.60 100396-1 ...... Printed circuit board................................................. 18.00.......29.00 CD The Power Supply Collection 1 December 2010 (No. 408) 1 ISBN 978-90-5381-265-5 .... £17.90 .....US $28.90 NetWorker DVD The Audio Collection 3 100552-91 .... Module, ready assembled and tested ........................ 53.00.......85.50 Heating System Monitor 2 ISBN 978-90-5381-263-1 .... £17.90 .....US $28.90 090328-41 .... ATmega328-20AU (TQFP32-08), programmed......... 11.00.......17.80 DVD Elektor 1990 through 1999 Stroboscopic PC Fan 100127-1 ...... Printed circuit board................................................... 4.50.........7.30 3 ISBN 978-0-905705-76-7 .... £69.00 ...US $100.00 100127-41 .... ATtiny 2313, programmed ....................................... 14.20.........8.75 DVD LED Toolbox ARM Freephone Control 080632-91 .... ECRM40 module, ready assembled and tested .......... 32.00.......51.70 4 ISBN 978-90-5381-245-7 .... £28.50 .....US $46.00 Masterclass Modular LED Message Board 100664-41 .... MC9S08SH32CWL, programmed ............................... 8.75.......14.20 5 DVD High-End Valve Amplifiers ISBN 978-0-905705-86-6 .... £24.90 .... US $40.20 Speed Controller for Small DC Motors 100571-41 .... ATtiny44-20PU, programmed .................................... 8.75.......14.20 NetWorker November 2010 (Nr. 407) 1 Art. # 100552-91 ................ £53.00 .....US $85.50 Micro Fuel Cell Measures Oxygen Concentration Digital Multi-Effects Unit 090773-91 .... PCB, populated and tested 2 Art. #090835-71 .............. £165.00 US $266.20 with programmed bootloader .................................. 56.00.......90.40 The 5532 OpAmplifier (2) Reign with the Sceptre 100124-1 ...... Amplifier board (one channel) .................................. 23.00.......37.10 3 Art. # 090559-91 ................ £89.00 ...US $143.60 100124-2 ...... Power supply board.................................................. 17.95.......29.00 Camera Interval Timer Elektor DSP radio 081184-41 .... PIC16F886-I/SP, SPDIP28, programmed ..................... 8.00.......12.90 4 Art. # 100126-91 .............. £149.00 US $240.40 October 2010 (No. 406) InterSceptre CL-3 Digital Rotary Combination Lock 5 Art. # 100174-71 .............. £116.00 US $187.10 100026-41 .... Atmel ATTINY2313-20PU, programmed ..................... 8.00.......12.90 Wheelie GT 100479-71 .... Kit of parts upgrade kit controller board + 2x Hall sensor board ............................................... 105.00.....169.40 Order quickly and securely through September 2010 (No. 405) Elektor Project Case www.elektor.com/shop 100500-71 .... Predrilled Lexan sheets with standoffs ...................... 14.90.......24.10 Digital Multi-Effects Unit or use the Order Form near the end 090835-31 .... EEPROM 24LC32......................................................... 4.00.........6.50 090835-41 .... ATmega8-16PU.......................................................... 8.30.......13.40 of the magazine! 090835-42 .... ATtiny2313-20PU....................................................... 8.30.......13.40 090835-71 .... Kit of parts including PCBs, programmed controllers and EEPROM .......................................................... 165.00.....266.20 Elektor Dual Voltage/Current Display Regus Brentford 100166-71 .... Kit of parts incl. PCB, item -41, LCD ........................... 62.00.....100.00 1000 Great West Road Vision System for Small Microcontrollers Brentford TW8 9HH • United Kingdom 090334-1 ...... PCB 19.90 32.10 Tel. +44 20 8261 4509 090334-41 .... PIC16F690-I/P, programmed ...................................... 8.00.......12.90 Fax +44 20 8261 4447 Email: sales@elektor.com elektor 02-2011 83
61002 COMING ATTRACTIONS NEXT MONTH IN ELEKTOR SatLocator Anyone who regularly needs to align a mobile satellite dish (for example, on top of the caravan), is forever busy locating these ‘birds’ in the sky. This handy circuit is linked to a database containing popular TV satellites and employs GPS data to calculate the angle at which the satellite can be received. The hardware consists of little more than a GPS receiver module, an ATmega8 microcontroller and an LCD. Very handy for use on your next vacation! Minimod18 Web Server In this instalment of the Minimod18 (ATM18) series we put this AVR controller ‘brick’ at the heart of a basic web server. For the client we propose the Firefox browser which ensures error-free HTML viewing. A type EZL-70 module is in control and ensures a smooth adjust- ment between the various components. Wireless Telemetry for Elektor Wheelie ElektorWheelie, our popular self-balancing two-wheel vehicle gets a transmitter/receiver combination that allows lots of live system data such as battery voltage, speed, power per engine and tilt angle to be transmitted wirelessly to a laptop. A related program processes and visualizes data, giving a good impression of how your Wheelie is behaving and what software remains to be tweaked. Article titles and magazine contents subject to change; please check the Magazine tab on www.elektor.com Elektor UK/European March 2011 edition: on sale February 17, 2011. Elektor USA March 2011 edition: published February 9, 2011. ww.elektor.com www.elektor.com www.elektor.com www.elektor.com www.elektor.com ww Elektor on the web All magazine articles back to volume 2000 are available online in pdf format. The article summary and parts list (if applicable) can be instantly viewed to help you positively identify an article. Article related items are also shown, including software downloads, circuit boards, programmed ICs and corrections and updates if applicable. Complete magazine issues may also be downloaded. In the Elektor Shop you’ll find all other products sold by the publishers, like CD-ROMs, DVDs, kits, modules, equipment, tools and books. A powerful search function allows you to search for items and references across the entire website. Also on the Elektor website: • Electronics news and Elektor announcements • Readers Forum • PCB, software and e-magazine downloads • Time limited offers • FAQ, Author Guidelines and Contact 84 02-2011 elektor
61002 Order Form 02-2011 Description DVD Wireless Toolbox1 NEW Price each Qty. Total Order Code £28.50 METHOD OF PAYMENT (see reverse before ticking as appropriate) CD The Power Supply Collection 1 NEW £17.90 Fundamental Amplifier Techniques Bank transfer with Electron Tubes NEW £65.00 Cheque (UK-resident customers ONLY) ARM Microcontrollers NEW £29.50 Experiments with Digital Electronics £26.50 C# 2010 Programming and PC interfacing £29.50 LEDs 1 (Special Project) £9.90 Expiry date: _______________________ Verification code: ___________________ Sub-total Please send this order form to* Prices and item descriptions subject to change. P&P (see reverse for conditions) The publishers reserve the right to change prices without prior notification. Prices and item descriptions Total paid Elektor shown here supersede those in previous issues. E. & O.E. Regus Brentford 1000 Great West Road Brentford TW8 9HH Name United Kingdom Tel.: +44 20 8261 4509 Address + Post code Fax: +44 20 8261 4447 www.elektor.com sales@elektor.com *USA and Canada residents should use $ prices, and send the order form to: Tel. Email Elektor US PO Box 180 Vernon CT 06066 Date – – Signature USA Phone: 860-875-2199 ✁ Fax: 860-871-0411 EL02 E-mail: sales@elektor.com Order Form 02-2011 Yes, I am taking out an annual subscription to Elektor and receive the E-book METHOD OF PAYMENT Microcontroller Basics totally free!* (see reverse before ticking as appropriate) (Please fill in your emailaddress below) Bank transfer I would like: Cheque Standard Subscription (11 issues) E-book (UK-resident customers ONLY) Subscription-Plus (11 issues plus the Elektor Volume 2010 DVD-ROM TIP + exclusive access to www.elektor-plus.com) * Offer available to Subscribers who have not held a subscription to Elektor during the last 12 months. Offer subject to availability. See reverse for rates and conditions. Expiry date: _______________________ Name Verification code: ___________________ Subscription Address + Post code Please send this order form to Elektor Regus Brentford 1000 Great West Road Tel. Email Brentford TW8 9HH United Kingdom Date – – Signature Tel.: +44 20 8261 4509 Fax: +44 20 8261 4447 ✁ www.elektor.com EL02 subscriptions@elektor.com
61002 ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS, P&P CHARGES All orders, except for subscriptions (for which see below), must be sent BY POST or FAX to our Brentford address using the Order Form overleaf. Online ordering: www.elektor.com/shop Readers in the USA and Canada should send orders, except for subscriptions (for which see below), to the USA address given on the order form. Please apply to Elektor US for applicable P&P charges. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Orders placed on our Brentford office must include P&P charges (Priority or Standard) as follows: Europe: £6.00 (Standard) or £7.00 (Priority) Outside Europe: £9.00 (Standard) or £11.00 (Priority) HOW TO PAY All orders must be accompanied by the full payment, including postage and packing charges as stated above or advised by Customer Services staff. Bank transfer into account no. 40270211 held by Elektor International Media BV with The Royal Bank of Scotland, London. IBAN: GB96 ABNA 4050 3040 2702 11. BIC: ABNAGB2L. Currency: sterling (UKP). Please ensure your full name and address gets communicated to us. Cheque sent by post, made payable to Elektor Electronics. We can only accept sterling cheques and bank drafts from UK-resident customers or subscribers. We regret that no cheques can be accepted from customers or subscribers in any other country. GCredit card VISA and MasterCard can be processed by mail, email, web, fax and telephone. Online ordering through our website is SSL-protected for your security. COMPONENTS Components for projects appearing in Elektor are usually available from certain advertisers in this magazine. If difficulties in the supply of components are envisaged, a source will normally be advised in the article. Note, however, that the source(s) given is (are) not exclusive. TERMS OF BUSINESS Delivery Although every effort will be made to dispatch your order within 2-3 weeks from receipt of your instructions, we can not guaran- tee this time scale for all orders. Returns Faulty goods or goods sent in error may be returned for replacement or refund, but not before obtaining our consent. All goods returned should be packed securely in a padded bag or box, enclosing a covering letter stating the dispatch note number. If the goods are returned because of a mistake on our part, we will refund the return postage. Damaged goods Claims for damaged goods must be received at our Brentford office within 10-days (UK); 14-days (Europe) or 21-days (all other countries). Cancelled orders All cancelled orders will be subject to a 10% handling charge with a minimum charge of £5.00. Patents Patent protection may exist in respect of circuits, devices, components, and so on, described in our books and magazines. Elektor does not accept responsi- bility or liability for failing to identify such patent or other protection. Copyright All drawings, photographs, articles, printed circuit boards, programmed integrated circuits, diskettes and software carriers published in our books and magazines (other than in third-party adver- tisements) are copyright and may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, in whole or in part, without the prior permission of Elektor in writing. Such written permission must also be obtained before any part of these publications is stored in a retrieval system of any nature. Notwithstanding the above, printed-circuit boards may be produced for private and personal use without prior permission. Limitation of liability Elektor shall not be liable in contract, tort, or otherwise, for any loss or damage suffered by the purchaser whatsoever or howsoever arising out of, or in connexion with, the supply of goods or services by Elektor other than to supply goods as described or, at the option of Elektor, to refund the purchaser any money paid in respect of the goods. Law Any question relating to the supply of goods and services by Elektor shall be determined in all respects by the laws of England. January 2011 SUBSCRIPTION RATES FOR ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION SUBSCRIPTION CONDITIONS The standard subscription order period is twelve months. Standard Plus If a permanent change of address during the subscription United Kingdom & Ireland £51.00 £63.50 period means that copies have to be despatched by a more Surface Mail expensive service, no extra charge will be made. Conversely, Rest of the World £65.00 £77.50 no refund will be made, nor expiry date extended, if a change of address allows the use of a cheaper service. Airmail Rest of the World £82.00 £94.50 Student applications, which qualify for a 20% (twenty per cent) reduction in current rates, must be supported by USA & Canada See www.elektor.com/usa for special offers evidence of studentship signed by the head of the college, school or university faculty. A standard Student Subscription costs £40.80, a Student Subscription-Plus costs £53.30 (UK only). HOW TO PAY Please note that new subscriptions take about four weeks Bank transfer into account no. 40270211 held by Elektor from receipt of order to become effective. International Media BV with The Royal Bank of Scotland, London. Cancelled subscriptions will be subject to a charge of 25% IBAN: GB96 ABNA 4050 3040 2702 11. BIC: ABNAGB2L. (twenty-five per cent) of the full subscription price or £7.50, Currency: sterling (UKP). Please ensure your full name and address whichever is the higher, plus the cost of any issues already gets communicated to us. dispatched. Subsciptions cannot be cancelled after they Cheque sent by post, made payable to Elektor Electronics. We can have run for six months or more. only accept sterling cheques and bank drafts from UK-resident cus- tomers or subscribers. We regret that no cheques can be accepted from customers or subscribers in any other country. Credit card VISA and MasterCard can be processed by mail, email, web, fax and telephone. Online ordering through our website is SSL-protected for your security. January 2011
61002 “Elektor is substance for professionals and those wanting to reach the level. The perfect entry to my studies!” – Christian, 19, freshman – 20%! ount Discount! Disc Electronics at all the right levels Secure a head start in electronics Test & Measurement] with a Student Subscription!* d Analogue Audio Digital [Microcontrollers & Embedde s AUS$ 13.90 - NZ$ 16.90 - SAR 99.95 £ 4.65 ect April 2010 roj wp ne [Microcontrollers 11 & Embedded Analogue cts Audio Digit proje May 2010 al Test & Mea surement 7 new AUS$ 13.90 - NZ$ 16.90 - SAR 99.95 ] £ 4.65 * Only available in UK. Ask for the conditions. age rn Fireflies Digital Test & Measurem [Microcontrollers & s Embedded Analog Audio +p www.elektor.com 50ild & lea with Easy experimenting ent] September 2010 focus on gence Artificial Intellicircuit sim bu www.elekt ulation ✚ Super Robots or.com ts ✚ VisiOLED [MicrocontrolREE ge F EN lers T & Embedded Analogue December 2010 ClouMyths, promises, threa Elektor DSP Rad io Scanner d Altimeter sky isre the ✚ SceptTest & Measurement] y Audio Digital The softw not the lim are librar it £ 4.65 AUS$ 13.90 - NZ$ 16.90 - SAR 99.95 ✚ DIY Fue ✚ EV Charge l Cells ✚ MPPT Reg r ulator Advantages to subscribers -pa LEM 32 PP SU dsPIC Cont ng Tweezers ro Measuri l Board EM 2010 l tools for measuring BEDDED GUIDEprojects Specia R16 Students qualify for a discount of no less than 20% microcontroller 32 pages of Worry -fr compared to the normal price of an annual subscription Elektor Project ee Drilling a hands-o n test ofCas e pipe & wir e loca tors t] Test & Measuremen PCB router Audio DSP Kick Digital A professional R21 off Subscribers get up to 40% discount £ 4.80 sions with optional exten NetWorker An advanced webs erver for small mic on special Elektor products with a micro rocontrollers LED 50-watt Power Heating System Monitorktor.com www.ele No queues, traveling, parking fees or ‘sold out’ opic PC Fan Cardiac Monitor Strobosc ee Your ECG by ZigB Elektor is supplied to your doorstep every month Nixie Tubeeter Thermom Always up to date – read your copy before everyone else p Headphone Am to your ears Music R04 www.elektor.com/subs · Tel. +44 20 8261 4509
61002

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Ee201102 en

  • 1. ion 61002 [Microcontrollers & Embedded • Analogue • Audio• Digital • Test & Measurement] s nic a t agemu February 2011 AUS$ 14.50 - NZ$ 17.50 - SAR 102.95 £ 4.80 5p m 2 co ✚ Telephone-to-VoIP Adapter on www.elektor.co www.elektor.com www.elektor.com w.el TimeClick Programmable Camera Controller Geolocalization without GPS Where am I? Where am I headed? Light Alarm Clock Programmed Sunrise ✚ Ultimatic CW Keyer For high-speed telegraphy operators R08 ✚ Contactless Thermometer Are you running an infrared temperature?
  • 2. 61002 LPC11C2x CAN MCU Series Industry’s first integrated CAN microcontroller and transceiver with CANOpen® Drivers. Features high-speed CAN transceiver and 32-bit LPC1100 MCU Higher code density powered by Cortex-M0 Superior performance than 8/16-bit microcontrollers Enable development of a wide range of industrial networking applications www.nxp.com/microcontrollers
  • 4. 61002 Communicate Surveys and feedback indicate that Elektor readers expect to find a large variety of articles, viewpoints and tech- nical approaches in the magazine. For this February 2011 edition we have done our utmost to pack the pages ahead of you with a wide variety of topics with a slight accent on communication, our announced theme of the month. Let’s see what’s communicated on communication. A telegram-style explanation is presented on the famous OSI layer model, which is 6 Colophon widely used in computers and networks. Who’s who at Elektor magazine. There’s also a handy VoIP adapter that 8 News & New Products enables the good old analogue telephone A monthly roundup of all the latest in set gathering dust in the cupboard to electronics land. be used for state of the art VoIP com- munication. The adapter features a USB 14 OSI from ISO port for connecting to the computer and “Seven Bridges You Shall Cross” before is designed to work under Linux. If you you can eat your OSI Cake and have it the like to mess around with old computer ISO way. gear you’re sure to have fun with the article on a DIY Texting (SMS) gateway 16 Reradiating GPS Antenna based on a scrap PC and a cellphone your To keep you headed in the right direction, spouse or children have classified as ‘RIP’ here’s a quick and cheap method to or ‘unfashionable’. There’s plenty of ICT overcome poor GPS signal levels in a car. scrap material around, and it’s often free for collection. Communication at the 18 Gentle Awakenings hands-and-feet level is also covered in This circuit has advanced features geared this edition with the AlphaLED (Alpha- to waking you up ‘sunrise style’. betLED) letter shaker, a small board that ‘writes’ messages in the air if you wave it. 24 Ultimatic CW Keyer There are a few messages in memory, but Morse is not dead and this project is for you can also create your own words or high speed telegraphers having mastered text by on the fly programming. the Ultimatic ‘squeeze’ keying method in Finally we have a circuit that bridges combination with a CW paddle. 100+ years effortlessly, happily combin- ing Morse (the pundits say CW) with PIC 32 Educational Expansion Board microcontroller technology. The Ulti- Flexible, multi-talented and versatile are matic keyer is for experienced CW fans, some descriptions that fit this expansion maintaining the correct time relations board for our popular ATM18 controller. between dots, dashes, words and lines, besides doing a lot more. The project 38 Geolocalization without GPS was designed to support the famous WiFi spots and triangulation methods can Ultimatic mode, a system that reduces be used advantageously to pinpoint your hand movement on part of the telegraph position with remarkable accuracy. operator and so allows amazing speeds of up to 100 wpm to be achieved. 43 E-Labs Inside: And more ... just browse this edition Here comes the bus (2) because there are many more interest- The guys at Elektor labs delve deeper into ing articles I am unable to communicate their plans to develop a proprietary bus. at the risk of exceeding the 360 word limit the page layout colleagues have 45 E-Labs inside: Design tips communicated over coffee and a piece for instrumentation amplifiers of OSI cake (page 14). Input noise and ADC resolution are Jan Buiting, Editor important considerations in very sensitive measurement systems. 4 02-2011 elektor
  • 5. 61002 Volume 37 CONTENTS February 2011 no. 410 18 Gentle Awakenings The light alarm clock described here is built around a microcontroller and can switch and dim an existing lamp (or lamps) fitted with an incandescent bulb (normal or halogen). It has several advanced features and its purpose is to wake 48 Contactless Thermometer This thermometer employs an infrared you up without a startle. sensor to read an object’s temperature without touching it. 53 TimeClick A controller for sensor, sound or time driven photography at an advanced level. 58 MIAC Controlled 24 Ultimatic CW Keyer Underfloor Heating System A stunning application of Elektor’s The circuit discussed in this article was developed specially for the squeeze Flowcode powered super PLC. paddle CW key but works great with single lever keys too. It looks after a lot of 60 Linux’ed time related issues such as the pauses between dots and words, fully support- Telephone-to-VoIP Interface ing the renowned Ultimatic mode. Connect your vintage telephone set to the world of VoIP and start phoning with no fears of a massive Telco bill. 65 AphaLED Shaker This little gadget when shaken prominently shows a letter in the air. 53 TimeClick 68 How to Get your Own USB ID Less than one LSB of all people designing TimeClick controls a digital SLR camera without human intervention using a stuff to work on USB actually manage to wired connection. It can take photographs at fixed or random time intervals or get their own ID in chips. in response to sensor input, which makes it suitable for various purposes from 70 TEXT Me! From 1, PC junkyard HDR photography to sound-triggered pictures. An old PC and a surplus cellphone together make your very own text messaging system. 75 Hexadoku Our monthly puzzle with an electronics touch. 60 Linux’ed 76 Retronics: Slide Rules & Telephone-to-VoIP Interface The Electronic Engineer Regular feature on electronics ‘odd & Start phoning with no fears of a massive Telco bill. The powerhouse board de- ancient’. Series Editor: Jan Buiting scribed here works under Linux using the renowned Asterisk IP PBX software, 84 Coming Attractions and at a stroke enables you to use your home telephone set (dare we say ‘vin- Next month in Elektor magazine. tage’) to connect to the VoIP world. elektor 02-2011 5
  • 6. 61002 Elektor International Media provides a multimedia and interactive platform for everyone interested in electronics. From professionals passionate about their work to enthusiasts with professional ambitions. From beginner to diehard, from student to lecturer. Information, education, inspiration and entertainment. Analogue and digital; practical and theoretical; software and hardware. ANALOGUE • DIGITAL MICROCONTROLLERS & EMBEDDED AUDIO • TEST & MEASUREMENT Volume 37, Number 410, February 2011 ISSN 1757-0875 Elektor is also published in French, Spanish, American Editorial secretariat: English, German and Dutch. Together with franchised Hedwig Hennekens (secretariaat@elektor.nl) Elektor aims at inspiring people to master electronics at any editions the magazine is on circulation in more than 50 personal level by presenting construction projects and spotting countries. Graphic design / DTP: Giel Dols, Mart Schroijen developments in electronics and information technology. International Editor: Managing Director / Publisher: Paul Snakkers Wisse Hettinga (w.hettinga@elektor.nl) Publishers: Elektor International Media, Regus Brentford, Marketing: Carlo van Nistelrooy 1000 Great West Road, Brentford TW8 9HH, England. Editor: Jan Buiting (editor@elektor.com) Tel. (+44) 208 261 4509, fax: (+44) 208 261 4447 www.elektor.com International editorial staff: Harry Baggen, Thijs Beckers, Subscriptions: Elektor International Media, Eduardo Corral, Ernst Krempelsauer, Jens Nickel, Clemens Valens. Regus Brentford, 1000 Great West Road, Brentford TW8 The magazine is available from newsagents, bookshops and 9HH, England. electronics retail outlets, or on subscription. Design staff: Christian Vossen (Head), Tel. (+44) 208 261 4509, fax: (+44) 208 261 4447 Elektor is published 11 times a year with a double issue for July & August. Ton Giesberts, Luc Lemmens, Jan Visser. Internet: www.elektor.com/subs 6 02-2011 elektor
  • 7. 61002 Elektor PCB Prototyper A professional PCB router E W! with optional extensions! N This compact, professional PCB router can produce complete PCBs quickly and very accurately. This makes the PCB Prototyper an ideal tool for independent developers, electronics labs and educational institutions that need to produce prototype circuits quickly. Specifications • Dimensions: 440 x 350 x 350 mm (W x D x H) The PCB Prototyper puts an end to waiting for boards from • Workspace: 220 x 150 x 40 mm (X x Y x Z) • Weight: approx. 35 kg (78 lbs) a PCB fabricator – you can make your own PCB the same • Supply voltage: 110–240 V AC, 50/60 Hz • Integrated high-speed spindle motor; day and get on with the job. In addition, the PCB Proto- maximum 40,000 rpm (adjustable) typer is able to do much more than just making PCBs. • Integrated dust extraction (vacuum system not included) A variety of extension options are available for other • USB port for connection to PC • Includes user-friendly Windows-based tasks, and a range of accessories is already available. software with integrated PCB software module Ordering The complete machine (including software) is priced at € 3,500 / £3,100 / US $4,900 plus VAT. The shipping charges for UK delivery are £70. Customers in other countries, please enquire at sales@elektor.com. Further information and ordering at www.elektor.com/pcbprototyper Email: subscriptions@elektor.com Email: t.vanhoesel@elektor.com system of any nature. Patent protection may exist in respect of Rates and terms are given on the Subscription Order Form. Internet: www.elektor.com circuits, devices, components etc. described in this magazine. Advertising rates and terms available on request. The Publisher does not accept responsibility for failing to identify Head Office: Elektor International Media b.v. such patent(s) or other protection. The submission of designs or P.O. Box 11 NL-6114-ZG Susteren The Netherlands Copyright Notice articles implies permission to the Publisher to alter the text and Telephone: (+31) 46 4389444, Fax: (+31) 46 4370161 The circuits described in this magazine are for domestic use design, and to use the contents in other Elektor International only. All drawings, photographs, printed circuit board layouts, Media publications and activities. The Publisher cannot guaran- Distribution: programmed integrated circuits, disks, CD-ROMs, software tee to return any material submitted to them. Seymour, 2 East Poultry Street, London EC1A, England carriers and article texts published in our books and magazines Telephone:+44 207 429 4073 (other than third-party advertisements) are copyright Elektor International Media b.v. and may not be reproduced or transmit- Disclaimer UK Advertising: ted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, scan- Prices and descriptions of publication-related items subject to Elektor International Media b.v. ning an recording, in whole or in part without prior written per- change. Errors and omissions excluded. P.O. Box 11 NL-6114-ZG Susteren The Netherlands mission from the Publisher. Such written permission must also be Telephone: (+31) 46 4389444, Fax: (+31) 46 4370161 obtained before any part of this publication is stored in a retrieval © Elektor International Media b.v. 2010 Printed in the Netherlands elektor 02-2011 7 ELEK UK1101 PCB Protoype_p7.inddSec1:7 Sec1:7 30-11-2010 13:38:12
  • 8. 61002 NEWS & NEW PRODUCTS External 48 & 60 watt the changing energy efficiency legisla- power supply series tion, XP Power provides a number of useful resources and information on their web site. meets latest energy In addition, XP Power applications and sup- standards port staff can assist customers in under- standing the various ‘green’ initiatives. XP Power recently announced the launch of The AFM series is available from Farnell or the highly efficient single output AFM series direct from XP Power. The units have a 3 of 48 & 60 watt external AC-DC power sup- year warranty. plies designed for a wide range of IT and www.xppower.com (100820-IX) medical equipment. The ranges offer out- put voltages of 12, 15, 18 and 24 VDC. Offering a typical efficiency of up to 88%, these highly efficient units meet the lat- Smart current sink LED est stringent energy efficiency standards such as Energy Star Level V, EISA2007 and backlighting platform CEC2008 in the United States and the ErP Semtech Corp. recently announced the Directive for Europe. These standards define industry’s first smart current sink LED back- lighting platform with on-chip digital light- ing effects for high-end handheld displays. This new platform incorporates Semtech’s tem cost, with the added benefits of elimi- patent-pending, smart Automatic Drop- nating any switching noise and extending out Prevention (ADP) technology to enable operating time. a new-generation of high-quality current The SC667 and SC668 are the first current sink drivers that can replace boost convert- sinks to incorporate ADP technology. These ers and charge pumps in high-end hand- devices also integrate a number of functions helds, while providing high-quality display to enable high-end features on portables, backlighting. The new SC667 and SC668 including an ambient light sensing/control current sinks with ADP technology reduce circuit that sets backlight brightness based the total parts count and extend battery on surrounding lighting conditions. A PWM life compared to boost converters or charge dimming interface that incorporates a dig- pumps, and offer far superior illumination ital low-pass filter is also included, provid- quality compared to conventional current ing the capability to perform content-adap- sink drivers. Additionally, on-chip digital tive brightness control (versus ‘always-on’ lighting effects provide the flexibility to illumination). incorporate fade, breathe and blink effects The SC668 provides eight current sinks, without changing the firmware. while the SC667 features seven current the average energy efficiency and the max- White LEDs used in backlighting applica- sinks plus an interrupt request indicator sig- imum no load power consumption. The tions typically have a forward voltage up to nal to tell the host processor when an ambi- AFM45 has a no load power consumption 3.6 V. When the battery voltage declines in ent light threshold has been crossed. Both of less than 0.3 W, and the AFM60 less than portable devices, the supply voltage must devices include an on-chip digital lighting- 0.5 W. be boosted to ensure the white LEDs have effects engine to control LED fade-in/fade- In addition, the AFM series comply with the sufficient voltage to illuminate the display. out, breathe, blink, auto-dim full, and auto- internationally recognized safety approval Charge pump or inductive boost converter dim partial; an I2C interface to program and standards for IT and commercial equip- devices have typically been used to provide control the LEDs; and four programmable, ment IEC60950-1 / UL60950-1 / EN60950- this voltage boost function. In an effort to 200 mA low-noise LDO regulators to man- 1. They also comply with the IEC60601-1 maintain constant output power, these cir- age the power for multiple embedded / UL60601-1 / EN60601-1 medical safety cuits increase current draw as the battery peripherals. standards. voltage declines, shortening battery life. Key Features of the SC667 and SC668 The units offer multiple input cable inter- Improvements in white LEDs have resulted include face options allowing designers to specify in forward voltages as low as 3.0 V, reduc- • Patent-pending Automatic Dropout Pro- either IEC320-C14, -C6 or -C8 connectors. ing the threshold at which conventional tection (ADP) technology The -C8 option provides a Class II grounding LED drivers need to boost the battery volt- • On-chip digital lighting effects (fade, method. An optional cable restraining clip age. Because of this, LED backlight driv- breathe, blink) without changing is also available. ers increasingly are operating in a non- firmware XP Power is an Energy Star partner and boost mode, making current sink drivers • Ambient light sensing option can auto- has an approved certification facility that an attractive alternative. Current sink driv- matically adjust backlight brightness allows in-house testing for compliance to ers eliminate the capacitors and inductor • Low parts-count: only one low-voltage the energy efficiency standards. associated with the boost circuitry, reduc- capacitor needed, no inductor required To help designers keep up to date with ing component count, board size and sys- • I2C programming interface (fast and 8 01-2011 elektor
  • 9. 61002 standard modes) Frequency stabilities can be specified at • ±0.5% (typ.) LED current matching, ±1.5% either ±10 ppm over an operating tempera- (typ.) LED current accuracy ture range of 0 to +70 degrees C or ±15 ppm • Four low-noise LDO regulators over –40 to +85 degrees C. • Ultra-small, low-profile 20-pad MLPQ MEMS technology is based upon the pro- package with exposed thermal pad: 3 x cess techniques of CMOS (Complemen- 3 x 0.6 mm tary Metal Oxide Silicon) and as such can be produced on standard production lines The SC667 and SC668 are available imme- in foundries that are more used to produc- diately in production quantities. ing standard or custom integrated circuits. www.semtech.com (100820-X) This of course lends itself to the ability of producing product in vast quantities at an tor is available in an exceptionally wide fre- economic rate. quency range from 1MHz up to 800MHz. The IQMS-900 range is eminently suitable MEMS oscillator covers The new model can be factory programmed for the incorporation into infrastructure with either a LVDS (low voltage differential equipment where it will provide very accu- 1 MHz to 800 MHz source) or LVPECL (low voltage positive rate timing processes coupled with the abil- frequency range emitter coupled logic) output. ity to drive the very latest high-speed pro- The plastic packaged IQMS-900 series is cessors that will enable the transfer of high IQD has announced immediate availability available in two sizes: either a 7 x 5mm or data rates — the fast rise and fall times con- of a newly developed high frequency MEMS the increasingly popular 5 x 3.2mm. Due to tribute to this. Typical applications include Oscillator on the opening day of Electron- its MEMS technology design, phase jitter is Fibre Channel, Ethernet 10G, HDMI, SATA/ ica 2010. The new IQMS-900 series MEMS low being typically 0.7 ps at 200 MHz. Two SAS & USB3. (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) oscilla- supply voltages are available, 3.3 V & 2.5 V. www.iqdfrequencyproducts.com (100820-XI) Advertisement elektor 01-2011 9
  • 10. 61002 NEWS & NEW PRODUCTS Factory modification medical instrumentation. means that it can be installed in the most services for enclosure Card mounting brackets, conductive and compact of applications. non-conductive fixings, handles, gaskets TDK-Lambda’s ZPSA100 series is approved panels and sealing strips can all be supplied to to national and international safety approv- Standard front panels for enclosures and meet specific project requirements. als, including IEC/EN/UL/CSA60950-1 (edi- sub racks, typically conforming to sizes www.verotl.com (100820-XII) tion 2) meets conducted and radiated EMC specified in international standards, are requirements of EN55022-B and FCC Class produced by many companies, giving B (without additional filtering or compo- users ready availability and a wide choice nents) and meets EN61000-4 immunity of suppliers. All such panels have one thing 100-watt low profile specifications for greater reliability. All mod- in common; they will usually need to be els in the ZPSA100 series carry the CE mark, modified to suit the application before PCB-mountable power according to the LV Directive, and come they can be used. Vero Technologies offer supplies with a two-year warranty. a rapid turn-round factory customisation www.uk.tdk-lambda.com/zpsa (100820-XIII) service for its own manufactured panels, a Power supply expert T D K- L a m b d a France has upped the output power of its ZPSA series of compact PCB-mountable AC-DC power supplies with the introduc- WLCSP 2.4 GHz chips tion of a 100 watt model. The new single- output ZPSA100 accepts a wide input volt- target space-constrained age range, has a very low profile (26.6mm) sports, fitness, and health and industry standard footprint (127 x 76.2 mm), making it an ideal choice for applications applications such as LED signage and light- Ultra low power (ULP) RF specialist Nordic ing, point-of-sale equipment, datacom, Semiconductor ASA (OSE: NOD) recently video/audio routers and test & measure- announced that it is to expand its exist- ment equipment. ing 2.4 GHz RF and ANT™ product line- These 100-Watt supplies are available with ups in Q1 2011 with a new set of ultra the most popular single output voltages miniaturized, wafer-level chip scale pack- from 5V to 48Vdc. Offering a typical effi- age (WLCSP) options designed to meet ciency of up to 90%, these models are well- the highly space-constrained needs of suited for operation in both convection or both existing and emerging sports, fitness customer air cooled environments from and health applications such as wireless 0°C up to 70°C, with appropriate derating. watches, bike computers, sensors, hearing A green LED is provided as an indicator that aids and other devices designed to be worn the power supply is on, and other standard features include over voltage and short-cir- cuit protection. These supplies are offered modification service for panels from other in an open-board configuration with Molex suppliers and bespoke panel fabrication to input/output connectors. customer drawings with a maximum size of Accepting a wide input voltage range of 480 x 400 mm. 90-264 VAC (47–440 Hz) or 120–370 VDC, Panels can be punched, drilled, multi-colour the ZPSA100 series is ready for use globally screen-printed, engraved, engraved with a with no further configuration or input selec- coloured infill, fitted with polyester over- tion. Its industry standard footprint makes lays, rebated to accept a flush-fitting mem- it an ideal choice as a drop-in replacement brane keypad and fitted with EMC gaskets. for existing supplies, while its low profile Conductive and non-conductive finishes, to both sides or just to the rear can be pro- vided or the panels can be painted. Cutouts on or near the body. can be within 1mm from the panel edge Sampling in Q1 2011 and available for vol- without distortion by using laser machin- ume orders in Q2 2011 will be the nRF24AP- ing or extend through the edge by using 2WLCSP (1- and 8-channel) and nRF24LE1 three-dimensional CNC machining, ena- WLCSP (Flash or OTP) options. bling rebates and apertures to be created. The new 1- and 8-channel nRF24AP2 WLCSP Both plastic and metal panels can be modi- package options will represent the world’s fied; plastic panels and enclosures can be small single chip ANT solutions (nRF24AP2- moulded in custom colours. Specialist fin- 1CHC32 and nRF24AP2-8CHC32) featuring ishes can be applied to give EMC/RFI pro- 400μm pitch (regular array) 32-ball BGAs tection or anti-bacterial capability for use in with a thickness of 0.5 mm and a flat foot- 10 01-2011 elektor
  • 11. 61002 NEWS & NEW PRODUCTS print area of just 2.6 x 2.7mm (7 mm2) that of workers with constant exposure. An moving through the doorway, ADAM will is over 5x smaller than the footprints of enhanced audio system that could gener- automatically revert to playing the original competing 6 x 6 mm (36 mm2) packaged ate a variety of sounds and automatically song. products. associate these sounds with vehicle position ADAM RAP also has the ability to react to The new nRF24LE1 WLCSP option (Flash or or function would dramatically improve the inputs. As another example, if a worker (or OTP) will again be a 400μm (regular array) effectiveness of the warning system. object) is fully obstructing the doorway and 32-ball pitch BGA measuring 2.7 x 2.7 RMT Robotics developed the ADAM sound ADAM is unable to reconcile an alternative (7.3 mm2) in footprint area for the Flash ver- application to play ‘text to speech’ mes- path, ADAM will politely enunciate, “Please sion and 2.6 x 2.7 (7 mm2) for the OTP ver- sages, sound bites or musical interludes move, I cannot get around you.” As another sion. Both devices are 0.5 mm in thickness. through its mobile robot that can be either example, if the emergency stop button is www.nordicsemi.no (100926-I) actively or passively triggered in reaction pressed, ADAM will state, “My emergency to a variety of operational conditions and stop has been pressed,” or if the Enter Desti- system inputs. Through the ADAM Com- nation button is pressed on the vehicle key- mander mapping software, regions on pad, ADAM will state, “Thank you, see you RAP for ADAM mobile later” before proceeding on its mission. “Now that ADAM can “speak” and interact robot with workers, there is an improved harmo- RMT Robotics ® a Cimcorp Oy company, nization between the work force and the launches ADAM RAP (Reactive Audio Play- robots that serve them,” says Torrens. “The back). The programmable sound system, fact that ADAM can also entertain while designed exclusively for the RMT Robotics enhancing safety and efficiency in the pro- ADAM (Autonomous Delivery and Manip- cess is an added bonus.” ulation) mobile robot, includes interac- www.rmtrobotics.com (100926-II) tive voice messages and a mobile “vehicle in motion” jukebox for every mood and season. “In developing the ADAM RAP module, we Contactless sensing wanted to create a new ‘vehicle in motion’ function that not only improves safety but for 360° navigation leverages the power of the ADAM plat- in human-machine form to enhance the interactive experience between humans and the mobile robots interfaces that they work with every day,” said Bill Tor- austriamicrosystems has announced the rens, Director of Sales & Marketing for RMT the facility map can be embedded with AS5013, a contactless magnetic encoder Robotics. commands to automatically load specific IC that monitors the displacement of a AGVs have a standard beeper-based ‘vehicle tunes or prompt a series of voice mes- magnet incorporated in a knob relative in motion’ alert system which is mandated sages. For example, ADAM may play a song to its centre position and provides x and by most international safety standards. In in the aisle ways and then switch to a text y position information via an I²C interface. most operations however, noise prolifera- to speech-based message saying, “Excuse The AS5013 Hall-sensor IC is used in the tion combined with the monotonous beep me I am coming through” as it approaches EasyPoint(TM) module, which consists of a of vehicles tends to diminish the alertness the region of a doorway. After successfully mechanical stack incorporating a naviga- Advertisement elektor 01-2011 11
  • 12. 61002 NEWS & NEW PRODUCTS iPad app for Engineers gineers Apple brought a whole new format to the world of personal com- puting when they intro- duced the iPad. The handy tablet computer can be taken anywhere and the interactive touch screen makes it dead easy y to use. Add to that the e convenience of the thou- - sands of downloadable e software apps available e to solve real-world prob- b- lems the iPad can be with- h- bridge), high and low pass filters (R/C, R/L and L/C) and an ool. out doubt a very useful tool. transistor circuits (with base resistor values and voltage divider b Elektor have added another to the firmament of apps with their calculations). The ubiquitous NE555 is also included as a basic ‘Elektor Electronic Toolbox’. This one should be indispensable to circuit building block as are all the characteristics of the differ- engineers and hobbyists alike. It comprises 28 applications, any ent colour LEDs. one of which can be selected from the opening screen. The electronic toolbox not only provides assistance in component The app contains a data bank of over 45,000 electronic compo- selection but also supports some engineering design activities. nents, including bipolar transistors, FETs, triacs, thyristors, diodes For example circuits often require a regulated DC linear power and ICs. A component can be selected from the lists in different supply and this app has all the tools necessary to make the job categories on the left hand side of the display. As usual for iPad a cinch. you can drag your finger to scroll through the list and select a Other useful tools include a virtual resistor colour-code clock, component by tapping the screen whereupon the pin-outs and units of measurement converter, circuit diagram symbol data important electrical characteristics appear on the right side of the bank plus much more. display. All data is contained in the app so an internet connection The Elektor Electronic Toolbox can be downloaded from the Apple is not necessary. Also included is a special data bank containing iTunes Store for just $4.99. Go to the apps web page for more pin assignments of the majority of connectors used in the fields information. of audio, video, computer and telephone engineering. To add to that an interactive component calculator is included UK & European readers: http://apps.elektor.com/Toolbox/?c=en&d=3&l=en which simplifies the design of resistive circuits (series, parallel, US & Canada readers: http://apps.elektor.com/Toolbox/?c=us&d=3&l=en tion knob, a magnet and the AS5013 mag- coordinate and motion detection engine, face to the host processor. netic encoder IC. Its simple construction and a smart power management control- The HMI device also provides two interrupt and contactless sensing technology give ler. The XY coordinate registers and mag- modes (motion detect, data ready) and two the module very high reliability and operating modes: idle mode, with is designed for any kind of 360° navi- less than 3 μA current consumption, gation input device. and low-power mode, with selecta- The AS5013 is a complete Hall-sensor ble readout rate. The low-power IC for human-machine interface (HMI) AS5013 operates over a power sup- applications requiring low power. This ply range of 2.7 to 3.6 V, and down to simplifies software integration chal- 1.7 V peripheral supply voltage. lenges for joystick navigation in prod- Specified over an operating temper- ucts such as cell phones and other ature of –20 to +80°C, the AS5013 handheld devices, e.g. MP3 players, Hall-sensor IC operates from a 3.3 V PDAs, GPS receivers, Digital Still Cam- power supply and is offered in a eras, gaming consoles, and remote 16-pin 4 x 4 x 0.55 mm QFN package. controls. The AS5013 single-chip IC The EasyPoint(TM) module is available includes user-selectable power-sav- as small as 8 x 8 x 1.5 mm. ing modes, 5 integrated Hall sensing elements for detecting up to ±2 mm www.austriamicrosystems.com/ lateral displacement, a high-resolution netic field information for each Hall-sensor AS5013/Hall-sensor-IC analogue-to-digital converter (ADC), an XY element are transmitted over the I²C inter- (100926-VI) 12 01-2011 elektor
  • 13. 61002
  • 14. 61002 COMPUTERS OSI from ISO Seven layers is all it takes As with any structured approach to such would be concerned with details of the This gives rise to a functional hierarchy of a problem it would be best to identify and physical transfer of bits over the medium the program structure which Elektor edito- divide the job into manageable tasks. Pro- while other higher level tasks would deal rial team have chosen to illustrate using this cesses to deal with error control and data with the interface to the application soft- seven-layered cake. packet addressing for example can be eas- ware. In between the data would pass Now we come to the International Organi- ily defined. Some of the lower level tasks through a series of intermediate processes. zation for Standardization (ISO) which as 1 Physical Radio, optical or cabled, it doesn’t matter which medium you edium y use, this layer defines how a digital 0 and 1 is represented in ented munic the media so that transmitter and receiver can communicate with one another. 2 Data link This layer is responsible for detecting corruption of the trans- ion mitted message. The interference may come from an external source or from more than one transmitter talking at the sam t same es d time on the network (data collision). Techniques such as data packetisation, message headers, checksums and CRC algo- rithms all help here. 3 Network This layer ensures that each packet arrives at the correct re- he ceiver. In larger networks there may be a hierarchy of networ y network nodes relaying the data packets. Similar to how a postal ad- dress and code uniquely identifies a delivery address, the des- e s tination address is comprised of several fields e.g. a series of characters or character sequence. 14 02-2011 elektor
  • 15. 61002 COMPUTERS When computers communicate it’s important that messages are exchanged reliably, efficiently and securely (to protect against eavesdropping). To build such a complex communication protocol from scratch represents more than a weekend’s work for sure. usual has a thing or two to say about techni- faces are strictly adhered to (i.e. the func- building blocks which can simply be linked cal standards. At the beginning of the 1980s tion of each layer and the data between the to fulfil a particular communication require- they released the OSI layered model (Open layers) it is possible to substitute a layer from ment. A similar model called TCP/IP uses Systems Interconnection Model) which sub- one implementation of the standard model fewer layers and is responsible for data trans- divides such a communication system into to another without problem. This promotes fers most notably over the internet. seven distinct ‘layers’. When all the inter- the concept of interchangeable software (100781) 4 5 Transport Session This layer checks that all the packets have arrived correctly. d This layer ensures that a ‘discussion’ between the transmitter Packets can be dropped when net nodes are overloaded. A verloaded. and receiver can be successfully concluded, even if the ses- ven tected. resend request can be issued if an error is detected. The basic sion is interrupted. When interruption occurs (for whatever n requirement is that communication occurs in both directions. reason) it ensures that the exchange does not need to start ion Protocols such as TCP build a logical connection between the from the beginning again. transmitter and receiver. Presentation 6 This layer deals with the details of formatting and encrypting data for transmission over the network. g 7 Application This layer forms the interface between the user software and re ansfer, the network providing application facilities for file transfer, s email and other network services. Protocols such as HTTP and a fer emai SMTP, used by the World Wide Web (e.g. to transfer emails) are implemented in this layer. elektor 02-2011 15
  • 16. 61002 MINI PROJECT Reradiating GPS Antenna Banish poor reception in cars By Ton Giesberts (Elektor Lab Labs) bs) A portable navigati system often suffers navigation s ion from poor reception wh used inside a car. n when hen This can easily be improved with the help of an imp prove proved active antenna and the mini circuit described here, which doubles as the battery charger. The signal strength of a portable navigation while we have one of those, we could, at the from a sturdy piece of enamelled copper system such as a TomTom, a Garmin eTrex same time, also use it to charge/power the wire soldered to the prototyping board on or a PDA/mobile phone with built-in GPS- navigation system or PDA while in the car. which the remainder of the circuit is built. receiver is often poor inside a car because of The circuit is so small that all of it is easily The wire is 19 cm long, equal to the GPS the metal coating which is often applied to accommodated on a small piece of proto- signal’s wavelength. It is normally recom- the windscreen of a modern car. A possible typing board of a few square centimetres. mended to keep the loop between 1/8 solution is an active, external antenna. This and 1/4 of the wavelength to prevent self type of antenna is available in all sorts of The circuit basically consists of a standard resonance. But with a larger dimension it shapes and sizes. However, many portable application for the LM317 voltage regulator is easier to bend it into a shape that suits GPS-receivers do not have a connection for (C3 for less noise and higher ripple/interfer- the GPS receiver better (the loop has to be an external antenna (any more); PDAs are ence suppression) and a pass-through cir- positioned near the location of the internal not all that likely to have one either. cuit for the signal from the active antenna antenna). to the antenna which will be mounted near In order to provide a navigation system the navigation system. A loop antenna is The power supply for the active antenna is without an external antenna connection used for the radiating element. This is made first RF decoupled with R4 and C5/C6. R4 is with a stronger satellite signal, it is possible to use a so-called re-radiating antenna. A loop antenna is installed either in, behind, or IC1 in front of the navigation system (depend- K2 F1 LM317 ing on the position of the receiving antenna 3 2 inside the navigation system) which then re- 0A5 adj 5V C8 radiates the received and amplified GPS sig- S1 R1 1 R2 R4 0 K1 100n 270R nal from an active antenna mounted on the 3k3 1R C1 C2 C4 outside of the car. In this way the navigation K3 L1 Active system is still able to receive a sufficiently 1u 100n 1u antenna 63V 63V large signal so that it can function properly. +12...14V R3 D1 C3 C5 C6 C7 820R 10u 1n 100p 100p For this design we only need a commer- 63V cial active GPS antenna and a tuned cir- cuit which will re-radiate the output signal 100808 - 11 that is available on the connector at the end of the active antenna cable. In addi- tion, we require a regulated power supply Figure 1. The schematic for the circuit: a voltage regulator and an antenna circuit which for powering the active GPS antenna. And re-radiates the GPS signal from an active antenna. 16 02-2011 elektor
  • 17. 61002 Advertisement AFFORDABLE EXPERTISE THE PC OSCILLOSCOPE RANGE FROM PICO TECHNOLOGY a normal, through-hole resistor which is mainly used as an induc- tor. By keeping the value of R4 low, the voltage drop across it is kept as small as possible. L1 decouples the active antenna signal from the power supply voltage. L1 is an air-cored coil, made by wind- BANDWIDTH ing a few turns (6 or so) around a small diameter drill bit (diameter 20 MHz to 12 GHz 5 mm). Keep the individual turns apart by at least the thickness of the wire used (for example 0.5 mm CuL). This is to minimise the internal capacitance. A standard 100-pF-capacitor is used to cou- SAMPLING RATES ple the signal from the active antenna to the loop antenna. None 50 MS/s to 5 GS/s of this is very critical. The photo shows the assembled prototype. The circuit was MEMORY found to work superbly. We have tested it within the thick walls 8 kS to 1 GS of our castle with, among others, a Pocket PC Mio P350. This had no reception inside the building, but by placing it next to the loop antenna it was able to find six satellites quite quickly. RESOLUTION The active antenna was placed near a window. The 5-V voltage on K2 can be used as the power supply for the Pocket PC (or GPS 8 to 16 bits receiver or some other device with GPS functionality). This is often a mini-USB connector which is also intended for charging PRICES the battery. Fuse F1 is there for safety, so that when experiment- ing you will not easily blow one of the car’s fuses. In our proto- £125 to £6995 type, the power consumption (without load on K2) amounted to just below 28 mA. Latest Software Updates: I²C & CAN bus decoding, There appears to be no standard for the connector at he end of the mask limit testing, advanced triggers, cable of the active antenna. The same antenna is often available digital low pass filtering, rapid triggering with different types of connectors. For testing we used an older type made by Trimble (39265-50) which has 5 meters of cable and an MCX connector. There are also active antennas with SMA, SMB, etc. So before you buy an active antenna, check that you can also obtain the corresponding chassis-mount connector. www.picotech.com/scope203 (100808-I) elektor 02-2011 17
  • 18. 61002 HOME & GARDEN Gentle Awakenings Programmed sunrise By Aike Terjung (Germany) In the natural world, our biological clocks are controlled by daylight. The light alarm clock described here imitates a natural sunrise to wake you gently from your slumbers in a natural manner. Start your day better by waking to the light instead of that horrid alarm clock. We all know the unpleasant to what happens at sunrise, and in feeling of being rudely awak- Features any case it is more attractive than ened from our sleep by the • Output connector for one or more dimmable 230 V / 115 V what you see with an LED dimmed buzzing, beeping or ringing lamps (80 W max.) under PWM control. If you wanted of an alarm clock. This often • DCF77 radio time synchronisation to simulate this effect with LEDs, happens when you’re in deep you would have to use RGB LEDs • Touch sensor for switching off the alarm sleep, which frequently results or LEDs with several different col- • ATmega168 microcontroller in not feeling properly awake ours. Things would be even more or groggy the whole day long. • PCB and programmed microcontroller available from Elektor complicated if you also wanted to However, it doesn’t have to • Firmware and source code available free from Elektor be able to continuously vary the be this way. If you sleep in • Can also be used on 115 V power grids brightness. The power savings that the summer with the win- could be achieved by using LEDs dows unobstructed, you often are anyhow very limited because awaken spontaneously when it becomes fitted with an incandescent bulb (normal or the alarm clock does not keep the lamp lit light outside. halogen). Although it might seem more log- for hours on end. When you awaken in this natural, gentle ical to use power LEDs, there are good rea- In addition to a lamp, the light alarm clock manner, you also feel much better, and this sons for using an incandescent lamp. Aside naturally needs to know what time it is. A feeling often persists all day. Obviously, from low cost (money and effort) and the DCF77 receiver module is a good solution it would be better to start your day with possibility of using a lamp you already have here, since it allows us to use a fairly sim- a simulated sunrise if the real thing isn’t on hand (such as a bedside lamp), the col- ple, software-controlled time base in the available. our characteristics of incandescent lamps microcontroller. There’s no need for a real- are better for this purpose. The colour of time clock, since the microcontroller clock Light and time the light from an incandescent lamp var- frequency (controlled by an external quartz The light alarm clock described here is built ies when it is dimmed, gradually changing crystal) is sufficiently accurate to allow it to around a microcontroller and can switch from a strong red hue to nearly white as manage for several hours without a proper and dim an existing 230-V lamp (or lamps) the brightness is increased. This is similar DCF77 radio signal. 18 02-2011 elektor
  • 19. 61002 HOME & GARDEN Table 1. Touch sensor functions State Touch duration Action Switch on display backlight Display backlight off < 1 second for 1 minute Lamp off; alarm not active > 3 seconds Switch on lamp at full brightness Lamp on (including alarm phase) > 3 seconds Switch off lamp S Sensor buttons and dimmer Switch off alarm Th There’s more to the alarm clock circuit Wake-up alarm < 1 second (with optional snooze function) th than just a microcontroller. A display an and buttons are necessary for the user in interface. In the schematic diagram (F (Figure 1) of the alarm clock, you can The alarm clock is controlled by five but- the level on the I/O pin while it is returning rig right away see that the user interface ton functions in total. The fifth ‘button’ to the High level. The capacitance of the ta takes the form of an inexpensive (and is a capacitive sensor based on an idea signal line and the connected metallic sen- ub ubiquitous) LCD module with two lines described on a German microcontroller sor surface is charged via resistor R15, and of 16 characters (LCD1) along with four forum [1]. The sensor consists of a metal- the logic level changes back to logic 1 when pu pushbutton switches (S1–S4), which lic surface connected to the Sensor input the voltage crosses the switching threshold. ar connected to the main circuit board are (near R13), which is connected to an I/O The software can determine the capaci- (Fi (Figure 2) by plug-and-socket connec- pin (PC5) of the ATmega microcontroller tance of the sensor circuit connected to to (K7 and K8) and a length of 5-way tors via R13 and a protection network consist- the I/O pin by measuring how long this pro- cable if necessary. Each switch pulls ing of D2, D3 and R15. The microcontroller cess takes. If you touch the sensor surface, an I/O pin of the ATmega168 (IC2) to firmware (written in C in the WinAVR devel- the capacitance increases and the charging ground. Pull-up resistors (R7–R10) opment environment) periodically switches time increases accordingly. provide defined high levels when the the output of this pin from logic 1 (High) to The author used the aluminium front panel switches are in the quiescent state. logic 0 (Low) and then repeatedly samples of his light alarm clock as the sensor surface. +5V +5V K3 R1 C7 10k 100n T2 +5V +5V S1 S2 S3 S4 K8 BC547 K4 R10 R9 R8 R7 R12 20 7 21 10k 10k 10k 10k 10k AVCC VCC AREF K7 D5 23 PC0 (ADC0) IC3 R16 R2 24 DCF PC1 (ADC1) ATmega168 10k 1k L1 25 K1 PC2 (ADC2) R18 100uH 26 -20PU 2 PC3 (ADC3) PD0 (RXD) 22R 27 3 5A PC4 (ADC4/SDA) PD1 (TXD) TRI1 R5 R4 28 4 +5V 1 PC5 (ADC5/SCL) PD2 (INT0) 5 330R R19 K5 1k5 K2 PC6 (RESET) PD3 (INT1) D4 BTA16- R15 6 C4 600BW D2 PD4 (XCK/T0) 1k IC2 14 11 100k 4 1 1N4148 PB0 (ICP) PD5 (T1) F1 15 12 100n Sensor R13 PB1 (OC1A) PD6 (AIN0) X2 16 13 1N4148 100R PB2 (SS/OC1B) PD7 (AIN1) +5V T4 17 R17 D3 K6 PB3 (MOSI/OC2) 2 1 18 470R 2A5 T 6 2 1N4148 PB4 (MISO) R11 4 3 19 PB5 (SCK) BC639 4R7 JP2 MOC3023 6 5 TR1 C12 GND XTAL1 XTAL2 GND ISP LCD1 115 10n C15 C13 IC1 22 9 10 8 P1 LM2940CT-5.0 +5V C5 C6 JP1 10n 10n BC547 T1 1 D1 X1 VSS 1 3 2 B1 220u 230 VDD 25V 100n 10k 3 C16 C14 1N4004 C11 R20 R21 4 VL C10 C9 C8 C1 JP3 2 C2 10MHz C3 RS 5 100k 10n 10n 10k 220u 100n 100n 22u 100n R/W 115 15p 15p 6 2x8V/1VA5 B40C1500 25V 35V 7 E * 8 D0 D1 9 D2 10 B1 R14 D3 11 D4 6k8 B40C1500 12 D5 13 D6 14 D7 15 R6 LED+A 16 15R LED-C T3 R3 470R 2 x 16 (DEM16217) BC639 080850 - 11 Figure 1. The circuit of the light alarm clock essentially combines the functions of a dimmer controlled by a microcontroller and a timer clock. Both of these functions are implemented in microcontroller firmware. elektor 02-2011 19
  • 20. 61002 HOME & GARDEN COMPONENT LIST T1,T2 = BC547B X1 = 10MHz quartz crystal, HC-49/S case, Resistors T3,T4 = BC639 50ppm, 12pF load capacitance, e.g. AVX TRI1 = BTA16-600BW (e.g. STMicroelectronics HC49SFWB10000H0PESZZ) R1,R2,R7,R8,R9,R10,R12,R20 = 10kΩ BTA16-600BWRG) F1 = fuse, 2.5A slow, 5x20 mm, with PCB R3,R17 = 470Ω IC1 = LM2940CT-5.0 (National mount holder and protective cap R4 = 330Ω Semiconductor) TR1 = power transformer, 2x8 V sec. 2x115 V R5 = 1.5kΩ IC2 = MOC3023 (Fairchild) prim., 1.5VA (e.g. Block AVB 1.5/2/8) or R6 = 15Ω IC3 = ATmega168-20PU, programmed, Elek- 1x9 V sec., 1x230 V prim., 1.5VA (e.g. Block R11 = 4.7Ω tor # 080850-41* VB 1.5/1/9, see text) R13 = 100Ω LCD1 = 2 x 16 characters (DEM16217), e.g. R14 = 6.8kΩ Miscellaneous Elektor # 030451-72 R15,R21 = 100kΩ K1,K2 = 2-way PCB terminal block, lead pitch Piezo buzzer, e.g. Kingstate KPEG827, or 8Ω R16,R19 = 1kΩ 7.5mm (0.3 in.) loudspeaker (min. 0.1W) R18 = 22Ω K3,K4 = 4-pin SIL pinheader, 0.1 in. pitch PCB # 080850-1* P1 = 10kΩ trimpot K5 = 2-pin pinheader, 0.1 in. pitch K6 = 6-pin (2x3) pinheader, 0.1 in. pitch * Elektor Shop, www.elektor.com/080850 Capacitors K7,K8,K9 = 5-pin SIL pinheader, 0.1 in. pitch C1,C6,C7,C9,C10 = 100nF, ceramic, lead pitch LCD1 = 16-pin SIL pinheader, 0.1 in. pitch 5mm S1,S2,S3,S4 = pushbutton, SPNO, e.g. Multi- C2,C3 = 15pF 2%, ceramic, 5mm lead pitch comp MCDTS6-5N C4 = 100nF, X2 class, 275VAC rated, 15mm lead pitch, 5mm wide C5,C11 = 220μF 25V radial, 3.5mm lead pitch C8 = 22μF 35V, radial, 2.5mm lead pitch C12,C13,C14,C15,C16 = 10nF ce- ramic, 5mm lead pitch Inductors L1 = 100μH 5.4A triac suppressor coil (e.g. Murata Power Solu- tions type 1410454C) Semiconductors D1 = 1N4004 D2,D3,D4 = 1N4148 D5 = LED, low current, diam. 5mm, Kingbright type L-53LSRD B1 = 40V 1.2A bridge rectifier, Se- Figure 2. The PCB (available from the Elektor Shop) has a narrow strip for the four pushbuttons, mikron type SKBB40C1500L5B which can be separated from the main PCB. The functions listed in Table 1 can be acti- Connections site for reference. Only pins 1 to 3 of the vated by touching the sensor surface. One We already mentioned that the 230 V DCF77 receiver module are used; they are of these functions is switching the backlight (115 V) lamp(s) is (are) connected to K1 connected to pins 1 to 3 of K4. The inverted of the display module, which is controlled and the buttons are connected by K7 and output of the DCF77 module (inverted out- by pin PD6 of the ATmega microcontroller K8. That leaves us with connectors K2 to K6. put) is not used. Pin 4 of K4 is connected and transistor T3. K2 provides the AC power connection to the to PD5 of the ATmega microcontroller and alarm board (115 V or 230 V). An approved provides an Enable signal, which the author The 230 V or 115 V lamp connected to K1 AC power cord with strain relief is con- needed for a different module. DCF77 can (maximum power 80 W) is dimmed by a nected to these terminals. be received across most of Central Europe standard phase-control triac dimmer circuit, and the UK. although here the trigger time of the triac K3 is a serial port for programming and (TRI1) is controlled by the microcontroller debugging. It is compatible with the FTDI A small loudspeaker (8 Ω) or a piezoelec- via an optocoupler (IC2) for mains isolation, USB to TTL adapter cable [3]. tric buzzer can be connected to K5. This instead of by the customary diac and poten- acts as a sort of fail-safe for people who tiometer. The dimmer circuit is based on the The DCF77 receiver module is connected to sleep with an eye mask or as an acoustic ‘Semitone Crystal’ open source design [2]. K4. This port is laid out for the well known alternative to the light alarm. K6 is a six- However, in the alarm clock circuit we dis- Conrad Electronics DCF77 receiver module way ISP port, which for example can be pensed with an optocoupler for zero cross- (order number 641113) shown in Figure 3. used in combination with the Elektor USB ing detection and used a simple transistor The data sheet and circuit diagram of this AVRprog interface [4] for programming (T2) instead. module are available on the Conrad web- and debugging. 20 02-2011 elektor
  • 21. 61002 HOME & GARDEN Power supply Shop (see the components list). Of course, The mains transformer (TR1) on the PCB you may also program the microcontroller receives AC grid power via 115/230-V yourself; the source code and hex file can be power connector K2. This transformer has downloaded free of charge from the Elektor two 115-V primary windings and can be website [5]. configured for either 115 V or 230 V oper- ation using jumpers. For 230 V operation, The PCB consists of two parts. In addition to JP1 must be fitted and JP2/JP3 must be left the main PCB for the light alarm clock, there open; this connects the two primary wind- is a small strip designed to hold the four ings in series. For 115 V operation, leave JP1 pushbutton switches and a header (see Fig- open and fit JP2 and JP3 to connect the two ure 2). No SMDs are used in this circuit, so primary windings to the mains voltage in you can solder everything the same way you parallel. did 30 years ago. As usual, you should pay attention to the orientation and/or polar- The two 8 V secondary windings of the ity of the components. This applies in par- transformer are connected in parallel. The ticular to the bridge rectifier, since devices rest of the power supply circuit is conven- with nearly the same shape but different pin Figure 3. A DCF77 receiver module is used for precise time synchronisation. tional, with a bridge rectifier, electrolytic configurations are available. The right one is This module is based on the proven Temic capacitor and 5 V voltage regulator. The shown in Figure 1. DCF77 receiver IC. only unusual element is diode D1 between the bridge rectifier and storage capacitor Our European readers can fit a regular 230 V C11. This allows the pulsating DC voltage PCB mains transformer with single primary at the output of the bridge rectifier to be and secondary windings instead of the an enclosure for protection against con- tapped off for zero crossing detection by international version with dual primary and tact with live voltages before it is con- transistor T1 and I/O pin PD2 of the micro- secondary windings, as long as it has a com- nected to the mains or put into service. The controller, before it is smoothed by the patible pin configuration. In this case, omit enclosure must comply with the applicable capacitor. the three jumpers. An example of a suitable safety regulations. In this regard, see the The LCD module is also powered from the 230 V transformer is given in the compo- electrical safety instructions published on 5 V rail. Trimpot P1 provides a variable volt- nent list, and any similar EI 30 transformer the Elektor website at www.elektor.com/ age derived from the 5 V supply voltage rated at 1.3 or 2 VA with 230 V on pins 1 and electrical-safety. for adjusting the contrast of the display 5 and 9 V on pins 7 and 9 can also be used. module. If the board is assembled properly and the Initial operation microcontroller is programmed correctly, Assembly AC line voltage (230 V or 115 V) is present you will see the time of day ‘00:00:00’ on A programmed ATmega168 and the PCB for on the PCB and on some components, so the display after you plug in the power this project are available from the Elektor the light alarm clock must be fitted into cable. If you don’t see anything on the dis- Advertisement Prototype & small series PCB specialists ALL SERVICES PCB proto dedicated prototype service widest choice 1 - 8 layers - Instant online pricing STANDARD pool - Instant online ordering w TECH pool - Low pooling prices Ne - Deliveries from 2 days w IMS pool metal-backed PCBs - No tooling charges Ne - Stencil service On demand all options up to 16 layers Call us: +44 (0) 20 8816 8180 Email: euro@eurocircuits.com www.eurocircuits.com See us live at Southern Manufacturing and Electronics 2011 – Stand H29 elektor 02-2011 21
  • 22. 61002 HOME & GARDEN Table 2. Menu button functions Button Function Back S1 (return to previous menu item) S2 OK (confirm) S3 > (larger or upwards) S4 < (smaller or downwards) the alarm clock is operating in debug mode. Among other things, this menu shows the number of detected bits since the last start marker of the DCF77 signal and the last detected bit in this signal. If no informa- Figure 4. The fully assembled Elektor prototype board. tion is displayed in Debug mode, there is a problem with DCF77 reception. This may be due to the location of the receiver or the play, first check whether the contrast is Alarm antenna orientation, or it may be caused by adjusted properly (with P1). Alarm active misconnection of the receiver module or a Next the alarm clock tries to receive the cur- Alarm time defective receiver module. rent time from the DCF77 module. After it receives a correct data set, a small trans- Settings Your own ideas mitting tower symbol is displayed next Set alarm The software for this project, including the to the time to indicated that data is being - with light source code, can be downloaded from the received. However, it may take several min- - with sound Elektor website and was generated using a utes after this symbol appears before the - Dimmer advance free C compiler (GCC), so there is nothing correct time is displayed, since the pro- to stop you from modifying it as desired – gram (to be on the safe side) waits until it Debug for example, you could completely remodel has received two successive data sets before the control menus and add new functions. it updates the time. Use the Alarm menu to enable the alarm One very nice change would be to replace If you now briefly touch the sensor surface, and set the alarm time. When setting the the brutal acoustic alarm signal with a gen- the backlight of the display will light up for alarm time, bear in mind that the simu- tle wave noise signal whose amplitude approximately one minute. lated sunrise is programmed to end at the increases gradually along with the increas- If you touch the sensor surface for longer set alarm time, so the alarm clock starts the ing light intensity. For stubborn sleepy- than around three seconds, the lamp con- alarm process earlier than the set time. For heads, you could also add a ‘Maximum vol- nected to K1 is switched on. To switch it off this reason, the light will remain completely ume’ menu item with the options ‘Hurri- again, repeat this action. dark if the time interval until the set alarm cane’ or ‘Jet fighter take-off’. The front panel of the author’s prototype time is shorter than the duration of the sim- acts as the touch sensor surface. It is ulated sunrise (the ‘dimmer advance’ time). Finally, Elektor USA readers are encouraged connected to the sensor port of the PCB. to develop software based on their national Use the Settings menu to configure the time signal stations like WWV and WWVB. Control menu basic alarm clock settings. In the ‘Set alarm’ Let us know. The menu settings can be configured using submenu you can enable or disable the light (080850-I) the four buttons, whose assigned functions alarm, enable or disable the supplementary are listed in Table 2. acoustic alarm, and specify the duration [1] www.mikrocontroller.net/topic/25045 First press S2 to display the alarm clock of the light alarm phase. This alarm phase (in German) menu. Then press S2 again to open the (‘Dimmer advance’) can be set in the ‘Set- [2] www.engbedded.com/semitone Alarm submenu, or press S3 to open the tings’ menu. The default setting is 15 min- Settings menu. A user guide in the form of utes, but you can also select 30, 45 or 60 [3] www.elektor.com/080213 a detailed overview of the menus is availa- minutes. [4] www.elektor.com/080083 ble for downloading at [5]. The basic menu [5] www.elektor.com/080850 structure is as follows: The Debug menu is displayed only when 22 02-2011 elektor
  • 23. 61002 MIAC – the rugged PIC 7 6 What does it do? 5 MIAC is an industrial grade control unit which can be used to control 9 8 a wide range of different electronic 10 systems. It has a lots of applications 3 4 in industrial control and automation 11 and is perfect for hobbyist PIC 1 2 projects that need a little oomph. 17 13 12 16 14 15 Key 1. Top hat rail mounting recess 10. 2. 11. Control keys 3. 12. M3 mounting holes 4. 13. 5 14. Motor output screw terminals 6. 15. 7. 16. Relay output screw terminals 8. Reset / run switch 17. 9. Flowcode – the graphical programming language supplied with MIAC Benefits Create your own PIC pro jects with the advantageous MIAC C or Assembly code Bundle. This package co nsists of a MIAC Module (in en closure) and the graphical progra Features mming language ‘Flowcode 3 for PIC’ (Professional-Version)! C compilers speed control Bundle Price: keys Using MIAC with FlowKit to give full IN-Circuit Order now at Debug with Flowcode www.elektor.com/miac-bu ndle
  • 24. 61002 RADIO & RF Ultimatic CW Keyer For high-speed telegraphy operators By Nenad Rotter 9A5AN (Croatia) There are still many radio amateurs who enjoy CW (which does not fully equate to ‘Morse’). Those who are proficient at it achieve incredible speeds and typically like to use paddles enabling the dots and dashes to be generated via separate levers using thumb and finger. The circuit discussed here was developed specially for this type of key. It looks after a lot of time related issues such as the pauses between dots and words, fully supporting the renowned Ultimatic mode. A small monitor amplifier is also accommodated on the PCB. The idea to develop this automatic CW • keying speed from 5 to 100 wpm (words and words, as well as encourage the telegra- (continuous wave) keyer arose after some per minute); pher to use real ‘squeeze’ keying technique. discussions with fellow QRQ (QR-Quick = • high quality CW monitor; high-speed CW) telegraphers. They com- • open to improvements and personal The Ultimatic algorithm plained about commercial keyers on mar- preferences. The Ultimatic algorithm is not generally ket being limited to Iambic mode only known among radio amateurs, hence the when the ‘Ultimatic keyer’ is what they As further considerations, the keyer should short discussion below. The Ultimatic algo- were after. ‘Ultimatic’ represents a real be simple to use, with no bells & whistles rithm, as well as the ‘Iambic’ algorithm squeeze technique keyer. that a high-speed telegrapher can’t be both- developed later, is based on squeezing two ered about. Therefore, all parameters of the levers (or ‘paddles’) rather than straight Having listened to (‘copied’) the complaints CW code are defined according to a stand- closing and releasing of a traditional single and wishes, the author summarised the ard and can’t be changed. No functions for lever key. The basic idea of squeeze keying is main characteristics of a new keyer to be CW contest are implemented because now- the possibility of simultaneously pressing the developed as follows: adays radio amateurs are using dedicated levers for dot and dash to reduce the total programs on PCs for this purpose. The new number of presses of the levers necessary • Ultimatic algorithm in case of squeeze keyer should be suitable for practicing to for CW code keying. The resulting reduc- keying; achieve correct pauses between characters tion of hand movements allows higher key- 24 02-2011 elektor
  • 25. 61002 RADIO & RF K1 D2 13V8 1N4004 IC3 +5V 1 7805 3 S4 JP4 TR1 B80C1500 R1 115 C6 C4 1k 2 K6 JP3 BD135-16 T1 R2 C3 C2 47n 47n B1 4k7 230 D3 100n 10u F1 C7 C5 C1 C8 63V JP5 D4 47n 47n 470u 47u 115 25V 10V 25V +10V 0W5 32mA T 2x6V/3VA2 HE721A1210 K2 L1 +5V DASH K5 100uH D1 RE1 C16 OUT L2 DOT 100n K3 PADDLE 100uH 1N4148 C11 C10 Re Tr R4 100R 47n 47n JP1 1 IC1 PHONES R6 VDD 13 2 R5 15k RA0/AN0 RA5/T1CKI 12 3 K4 100R RA1/AN1 RA4/AN3 T2 11 4 RA2/AN2 RA3/MCLR R3 10 5 +5V RC0/AN4 RC5/RX 2k2 9 6 RC1/AN5 RC4/TX C14 8 7 JP2 PHONES RC2/AN6 RC3/AN7 S2 S1 BC639 1u VSS 14 63V PIC16F688 REC PLAY P1 R11 R10 R9 R8 R7 +10V C9 AUTO SPACING 1 IC2 30k 30k 30k 30k 30k ON/OFF 220u 16V S3 PH C15 C18 8 10k R16 R15 R14 R13 2 LS 15k 15k 15k 15k 5n6 470n 4 LS1 5 R12 P2 R17 C13 C12 C17 3 6 30k 1M 47n 47n 1u 63V TDA7052A 10k 100087 - 11 Figure 1. The Ultimatic CW keyer packs an impressive amount of intelligence into a small microcontroller, hence the compactness of the circuit. Anyone got the blueprint of the W6SRY 1955 tubed original handy? Quick Features • Operating mode: 600–2000 Hz, adjustable in increments of 5% standard or Ultimatic in case of ‘squeeze’ keying • Tone waveform for monitoring: sine, amplitude modulated • Keying speed: • Max. audio output power: 5–100 wpm (words per minute), adjustable with the external 0.15 watts (optional: 0.5 watts) (8 Ω speaker), external volume potentiometer in increments of 1 wpm up to 36 wpm and control thereafter in increments of 2 wpm • Headphone connectors: • Dot/Dash ratio: 1:3 2; connectivity with radio station’s audio output • Pause between two elements: 1 dot • Memory: one, capacity approx. 16 words • Automatic generation of pause between characters / words (auto • TX output: transistor or reed relay spacing); can be disabled • Minimum pulse at the dot / dash input: 3 μs • Automatic pause between characters: 3 dots • Power supply: Powerline (230/115 VAC) or 13.8 VDC from rig • Automatic pause between words: 7 dots • Power consumption: 0.3 W typical, max. 2 W • Frequency of monitor tone: elektor 02-2011 25
  • 26. 61002 RADIO & RF Boastware: Ultimatic algorithm advantages To make the Ultimatic algorithm advantages more obvious, let’s examine all characters. Letters E, H, I, M, O, S and T as well as numbers 0 and are 5 always keyed with one lever only and need not be considered here. A single squeeze (both levers pressed and released at same time) is enough for the keying of letters A, B, D, J, N and W as well as numbers 1 and 6. In the case of the Iambic algorithm, these are only letters A, C and N as well as A N 0 full stop (point), semicolon and plus. B O 1 All other characters can be keyed out with the lever of the initial element continuously pressed. In the case of the Iambic algorithm C P 2 that’s possible only for letters F, G, K, L, Q, R, U, V and Y as well as D Q 3 numbers 4 and 9 E R 4 More than two lever presses are necessary for letter C as well F S 5 as parenthesis, full stop (point), semicolon, slash, plus sign and comma. G T 6 Comparing by number of lever presses, the Ultimatic algorithm H U 7 is more effective than the Iambic algorithm except for the letter I V 8 C, full stop, semicolon and plus sign. However, the Ultimatic J W 9 algorithm allows keying of all characters with true squeeze K X . technique while with Iambic algorithm letters B, D, J, P, W, X and Z, numbers 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 and 8 as well as minus sign, question mark, L Y , parentheses, equal, slash, comma and exclamation mark can’t be M Z ? keyed out using squeeze technique at all because during keying 100087 - 12 it’s necessary to release the opposite element lever, meaning these characters should be keyed with standard single-lever technique. ing speeds to be achieved with relative ease. ing because the Iambic algorithm does To make the principle easy to understand, All relative to the traditional up/down key, not enable all CW characters to be keyed here are few samples of CW code genera- of course. out with genuine ‘squeeze’ technique. tion based on the Ultimatic algorithm: The squeeze technique and associated Ulti- The Iambic algorithm simply generates dots matic algorithm were developed by John and dashes (‘elements’) alternatively when ? (··−−··) the dot lever was pressed first and Kaye, W6SRY. Back in 1955, Kaye published both levers are squeezed together. By con- generation of dots start. During the gen- his article The All-Electronic “Ultimatic“ Keyer trast, ‘Ultimatic’ generates one dot and a series eration of the second dot, the dash lever in QST magazine. The all-tube keyer had an of dashes, or vice versa. Looking at the possible was pressed also and generation of dashes integrated twin lever paddle and was able to combinations for the levers being pressed: starts. Both levers are pressed! When gen- generate CW code according to the Ultimatic eration of the second dash starts, the dash algorithm philosophy. Acceptance was slow • in case of both levers squeezed ‘simul- lever is released and keyer is generating and twin lever paddles did not appear widely taneously’, the element belonging to dots again. During the second dot genera- on the market until around 1964. the lever first pressed will be gener- tion, the dot lever was released also. ated, followed by continuous genera- The Iambic algorithm, known to almost tion of the other element as long as the 1 (·−−−−) the dot lever was pressed just every radio amateur, was worked out lever for it is held pressed. After that, before the dash lever. Then both levers are by John Curtis, K6KU. In 1968 he made the first element will continue to be pressed. The keyer generates one dot and a semiconductor keyer called the TK-38 generated as long as first element lever continues with generating dashes. Both which generated CW code based on the is held actuated. levers can be squeezed and released simul- Iambic algorithm. In the following years, taneously when the fourth dash starts, or Curtis even developed a few integrated • with one lever continuously pressed the dot lever can be released at any time circuits supporting the Iambic algorithm. it is possible to insert one or more of keeping only the dash lever pressed until This is probably why the Iambic algo- the opposite elements at any desired the fourth dash starts. rithm became widespread and today’s moment. transceivers have integrated electronic Q (−−·−) the dash lever is pressed and the keyers built in that work according to • when both levers are released keyer generates dashes. While the second the Iambic algorithm. However, this is ‘together’, the last element to be gener- dash is being generated, the dot lever is also the main reason for so many teleg- ated is the one associated with the lever pressed briefly. After the second dash is fin- raphers actually not using squeeze key- pressed last. ished, one dot gets generated followed by 26 02-2011 elektor
  • 27. 61002 RADIO & RF the last dash. At that time the dash lever is ply voltage is likely to drop below 6 volts at can be divided into several sections. Only released also. full output power. three will be discussed briefly, with notes Since it is not required for a lever to be Switch S3 allows the internal speaker to be on operating and configuring the keyer released to enable generation of the ‘oppo- silenced — the audio signal from the keying added. The Operator’s Chart printed here site’ element, lever handling can be more monitor is then redirected to connectors K3 is useful to have handy with the keyer. You relaxed with all types of overlap that are not and K4. These are wired in parallel to enable may want to copy it and stick it on a piece time critical. There is just one ‘must’, and connection of transceiver headphone audio of cardboard for easy reference. that’s to stick to correct pressing of both output simultaneously with the keyer. In this levers in order to properly generate a CW way you can listen to the receiver audio signal for each character. during reception as well as the keying moni- tor’s audio signal during CW transmitting. Schematic diagram Many transceivers have poor keying moni- Ultimatic CW Keyer Operator’s Chart Looking at the schematic of the Ultimatic tors built in, especially on higher CW speeds. CW Keyer in Figure 1, the complexity is The keying output to the transceiver can be only apparent and mostly due to the pas- by transistor or by reed relay depending on CW sive components in the keying monitor. The the setting of 3-pin jumper JP1. Although [REC] 1s S heart of keyer is a Microchip microcontroller the relay indicated here has an integrated type PIC16F688. It was chosen because of back-emf diode, a separate diode D1 is pro- EE RAM: [PLAY] R its internal 8 MHz oscillator, 10-bit A/D con- vided in the circuit to accommodate pin : [REC] R verter, 14-pin housing and 12 I/O lines, the compatible relays that might not have back- latter ample to connect the CPU to input emf protection. CW and output signals as well as to an R-2R net- work for audio signal generation. For most transceivers ‘TX to ground’ pro- [PLAY] - · - · .. vided by the transistor will be okay but the : [ · ] or [ - ] The squeeze paddle is connected to the reed relay can ensure a potential-free con- keyer circuit through 6.3 mm jack socket tact for special cases. The relay will also f≈ K5. The dot and dash lever contacts are con- ensure galvanic isolation between keyer nected to microcontroller inputs trough RF and transceiver, if needed. Bear in mind that [REC] + [PLAY] ≈ filters L1/C10 and L2/C11 to eliminate any the relay has to be fast, hence a type with a f :[·] f :[-] RF noise induced in the paddle cable. The maximum contact close and release time of keying speed is adjustable with potenti- 1 ms is specified here. : [REC] ometer P1 which sets the voltage on PIC The on-board power supplies allow the analogue input AN0. With 64 voltage lev- keyer to be powered either from your AC WPM info els available, 64 keying speeds in the range power socket (230 VAC or 115 VAC, set [REC] + [ - ] n.n. from 5 to 100 wpm have been defined. wire links JP3-4-5 as required) or from the Resistors R7 through R16 (1% tolerance) 13.8 VDC taken from the transceiver or its together form a 5-bit R-2R network for sin- power supply. Transistor T1 acts as a rudi- RAM EE ewave audio signal generation. Capacitors mentary voltage stabiliser and filter for the [REC] + [ · ] 5s SETUP C12 and C13 are part of a low-pass filter to audio amplifier. The 5-V stabilised supply suppress the sinewave sampling frequency rail for the PIC micro is provided by a 7805 [REC] MSG .. R at 32×f. C15 acts mostly as an attenuator. regulator, which may be replaced with a Potentiometer P2 is the audio volume con- 78L05, the 16F688 being ‘QRP’ i.e. a few trol. The CW monitor (‘listen-in’) ampli- milliamps only. Green LED D4 is the ON The purpose of the auto spacing routine is fier is based around the TDA7052A which indicator taking into account that the power to insert correct time pauses between char- conveniently requires few external parts switch is on the back side of the box. acters and words based on the CW standard. to operate. Output power in the configura- The keyer has only two pushbuttons, S1 The routine executes in the main program tion shown is about 0.15 watts. Those hard (PLAY) and S2 (REC). Their function will be loop and can be disabled with jumper J2. If J2 of hearing or wishing to impress a larger cir- explained below, as well as that of jumper JP2. is open, the routine is enabled. Auto spacing cle of bystanders may increase the output can significantly improve the quality of your power to 0.5 W by trebling the value of C15 Software and Operation CW code and can help the telegrapher to get or connecting a 100 kΩ resistor between For those with access to PIC programming a good sense of timing for the specified pause. pin 4 of the TDA and the +5 V rail. Doing so tools, the software for the project is a free Proper pauses between characters and words will stretch the limits of the simple 10 V sta- download from the Elektor website [1]. The are the biggest problem during keying. biliser around T1 though, and the TDA sup- CW keyer source code is fairly complex and A SETUP routine has been added to keyer elektor 02-2011 27
  • 28. 61002 RADIO & RF COMPONENT LIST Resistors R1 = 1kΩ R2 = 4.7kΩ R3 = 2.2kΩ R4,R5 = 100Ω R6,R13-R16 = 15kΩ 1% R7-R12 = 30kΩ 1% R17 = 1MΩ P1 = 10kΩ potentiometer, mono, linear (not on circuit board) P2 = 10kΩ, potentiometer, mono, logarithmic (not on circuit board) Capacitors C1 = 470μF 25V radial, electrolytic, lead spacing 5mm C2 = 10μF, 63V, radial, electrolytic, lead spacing 2.5mm C3 = 100nF 50V, ceramic, lead spacing 5mm C4-C7 = 47nF 50V, ceramic, lead spacing 5mm C8 = 47μF 25V, radial, electrolytic, lead Figure 2. This small board was designed by Elektor labs to build the Ultimatic keyer. Note spacing 2.5mm that controls like pots and switches are externally connected to the board. The copper C9 = 220μF, 16V, radial, electrolytic, lead track artwork is a free download from [1]. spacing 2.5mm C10-C13 = 47nF, ceramic or MKT, lead spacing 5mm or 7.5mm IC2 = TDA7052A/N2 (‘A’ suffix device must be K5 = 6.3mm (1/4’’) jack socket, switched, C14,C17 = 1μF 63V, radial, electrolytic, lead used) 3-way, PCB mount, e.g. Cliff Electronic spacing 2.5mm IC3 = 7805 Components type S2BBBPCA C15 = 5.6nF 5%, polyester/MKT, lead spacing 5 B1 = 100V 1.5A bridge rectifier, Vishay General K6,S4 = 2-way PCB terminal block, lead spacing or 7.5mm Semiconductor type W01G 7.5 mm, Camden Electronics CTB0110/2 C16 = 100nF 50V, ceramic, lead spacing 5mm LS1 = miniature loudspeaker, 1W / 8Ω (not on C18 = 470nF 63V, polyester, lead spacing 5mm Miscellaneous circuit board) F1 = fuse, 32mA (230VAC), 63mA (115VAC), RE1 = reed relay, 12VDC, SPST-NO, e.g. Hamlin Inductor Electronics type HE721A1210. slow blow, with PCB mount holder and cap L1,L2 = 100μH choke, axial, e.g. Bourns type D4,S1,S2,JP2 = 2-pin pinheader, lead spacing S1,S2 = pushbutton, 1 make contact, e.g. 79F101K-TR-RC 0.1’’ (2.54mm) APEM type 9633NVD with black cap type D4,S1,S2 = 2-way socket SIL, straight, lead U482 (not on circuit board) Semiconductors S3 = SPST (toggle) switch (not on circuit board) spacing 0.1’’ (2.54 mm) D1 = 1N4148 JP1 = 3-pin pinheader with jumper, 0.1’’ (2.54 S3,P1,P2 = 3-pin pinheader, 0.1’’ (2.54mm) D2 = 1N4004 mm) S3,P1,P2 = 3-way socket, 0.1’’ (2.54mm) D3 = 10V 0.5W zener diode JP2 = 2-pin pinheader with jumper, 0.1’’ (2.54 TR1 = AC power transformer, PCB mount, D4 = LED, green, 3mm mm) prim. 2x115 V, sec. 2x6V 2.3VA, e.g. Block T1 = BD135-16 K1 = 2-way PCB terminal block, lead spacing type AVB2.3/2/6. Strap primary for local AC T2 = BC639 5mm line voltage. IC1 = PIC16F688-I/P, programmed, Elektor # K2,K3,K4 = 3.5mm stereo jack socket, PCB PCB # 100087-1, see [1] 100087-41, see [1] mount, e.g. Lumberg 1503 09 software. It allows copying of the message s. The keyer will key ‘MSG’ and the message ficient especially after frequency adjust- saved in RAM to EEPROM, as CW keyer user saved in RAM will get copied into EEPROM. ment with the software tool. Frequency could permanently save frequently used When done you will hear ‘R’ keyed out and can be changed in increments of approxi- messages and make RAM memory free for the keyer is ready for normal use. The mes- mately 60 kHz and after adjusting the CW temporary messages which will be auto- sage saved in EEPROM can be overwritten speed error will not exceed ± 0.5%. The pro- matically erased after keyer is switch off. with a new message at any time by repeat- cedure for oscillator frequency adjustment The SETUP routine is also used for PIC oscil- ing the procedure described. The message is not too complicated and described in a lator frequency adjustment which will be in EEPROM can be erased by copying pre- free supplementary document [1]. explained below. Launching of the routine viously erased RAM into it. Microchip guar- takes 5 s and the routine is active only 3 s, antees one million write cycles to EEPROM. Construction and testing this is done to prevent accidentally start The circuit is built on an Elektor-designed it. The SETUP routine is started by press- Internal oscillator frequency adjustment. printed circuit board of which the com- ing REC and the dot lever simultaneously. The PIC 16F688, like many other new types ponent overlay is shown in Figure 2. Only After that, REC can be released but Dot lever of PIC, has an internal oscillator with a through-hole components are used, so must remain pressed for at least 5 seconds, default frequency of 8 MHz, and the use of assembling this board should not cause until the keyer starts to key ‘SETUP’. After an external quartz crystal is optional. Here, problems provided you work accurately that, REC] must be pressed briefly within 3 the accuracy of the internal oscillator is suf- as it has to be admitted the component 28 02-2011 elektor
  • 29. 61002 RADIO & RF arrangement is fairly dense in places. When the 230/115 VAC power connections to gathering the components for the project, the board. All wiring between the board pay attention to the pin arrangement of and external AC power switch S4 must jack sockets K2, K3, K4 (3.5 mm) and K5 be secure and rated at 250 VAC mini- (6.3 mm). Also note the size and lead pitch mum. On/off switch S4 must be rated and of C18 for which a space of about 3.5 mm approved for AC line voltage (230 VAC / is available on the board. The programmed 115 VAC) switching. Do not even dream of PIC micro is preferably mounted in a 14-pin going sloppy here. DIL socket. The 7805 and the BD135 both have an easy job and do not require a heatsink. The completed board is fitted in a metal Ready-programmed PICs for the project are Figure 3. Suggested mounting in a metal enclosure, see Figure 3 for an impression available from Elektor, see [1]. case (author’s prototype). of the author’s prototype. The jack sock- The 13.8 VDC input is by way of a screw ter- ets are lined up at the board edge to enable minal block because a zillion different con- them to protrude from the front panel. The nector systems exist on radio rigs. board — see, for example, potentiometer P1 two pots and the two pushbuttons are con- which gets connected to the board with a nected to the board by way of 0.1-inch pin- The component list includes references to 3-way combination of a SIL pinheader and headers and receptacles. all 2-pin and 3-pin 0.1-inch pinheaders to mating socket. Care and attention should be given to controls and components mounted off the Before installing it in its case, the assem- Advertisement Take out a free subscription to E-weekly now Do you want to stay up to date with electronics and computer technology? Always looking for useful hints, tips and interesting offers? Subscribe now to E-weekly, the free Elektor Newsletter. Your benefits: The latest news on electronics in your own mailbox each friday Free access to the News Archive on the Elektor website You’re authorized to post replies and new topics in our forum Register today on www.elektor.com/newsletter elektor 02-2011 29
  • 30. 61002 RADIO & RF bled board (Figure 4) can be given a quick test by running over some of the routines described in the Software and Operation section above. This requires all controls and a small loudspeaker to be connected, if nec- essary, in a temporary fashion. Connecting to a radio station Connection between keyer and radio sta- tion can be done in several ways depend- ing on your desires and the type of radio station. The first connection method involves con- necting the keyer to the radio station with two cables. First, the ‘control’ cable con- nects the CW output (Out) with paddle Figure 4. A close look at the finished and tested prototype of the keyer assembled by input (Key) on the radio station and serves Elektor Labs. When in doubt, look closely at this photograph - HI. to activate the transmitter while the other, ‘audio’, cable connects the headphone jack (Phones) with an output for headphones vide full galvanic isolation between keyer paddle input. This may occur at older radio (Phones) on the radio station to listen to the and radio station. In this case, the audio stations which have not internal electronic receiver and the keyer monitor on the same cable should not be used, and the reed relay keyer. The reed relay should be used for the headphones. Using this method of connect- selected for the CW output. To ensure gal- CW output, and the control cable should ing the keyer and radio station, grounds vanic isolation of the CW output from the be made as described above (second way are joined via the connecting cable! This keyer ground, the reed relay contacts are of connecting) while the audio cable can method is recommended because it ensures connected to the tip and ring of a 3.5 mm be used as stated in the first method. proper keyer grounding while galvanic iso- stereo connector and the control cable (100087) lation from the AC grid is afforded by the should be made separately. In this case, it transformer. is desirable for the keyer ground to be con- Note: paddle keys used for circuit testing and nected to the ground rail in the radio shack photography kindly provided by If the radio station has a 13.8 V output (not: Radioshack). Anton Klok, PA3AQV. for powering small external loads you are in luck as the keyer is switched on and off The third method of connecting is a com- together with the radio station. bination of first and second methods and is Internet Link When the ground lines of both devices are applicable in the event that the radio sta- [1] www.elektor.com/100087 connected together, the use of reed relay tion requires a potential-free contact on its as the keyer output is pointless because the transistor output provides a better defined CW output (in terms of pulse timing). When using the transistor output, the control and audio cables are identical and standard cables with 3.5 mm diameter ste- reo connectors at both ends. Such cables are used to connect a PC audio card and video monitor which have a built-in speak- ers and/or a microphone, and can be pur- chased ready-made in PC accessory outlets. It is important to emphasise that before connecting the keyer to a radio station, two Figure 5. A collector’s item and a QRQ Figure 6. A low cost ‘utility’ paddle keyer parameters in the radio’s menu need chang- delight, this vintage Vibroplex paddle mounted on a plastic base. Great for ing: (1) turn off internal keyer; (2) turn off keyer is easy to adjust to your personal practicing and “getting up to speed” as the internal monitor. preferences and rock solid on its cast iron some say. Courtesy Anton Klok PA3AQV. The second way of connecting up is to pro- base. Courtesy Anton Klok PA3AQV. 30 02-2011 elektor
  • 31. 61002
  • 32. 61002 ATM18 EDUCARD Educational Expansion Board With handy general-purpose peripheral functions By Grégory Ester (France) This expansion card, which is designed to be used with the Elektor ATM18 board, should come in handy for all sorts of projects. The combination provides a platform that is very suitable for both rapid prototyping and educational use. Due to its suitability for educational applica- ATM18 board was described in the April board or to peripheral devices. For power- tions, we have dubbed this board ‘EduCard’. 2008 issue of Elektor and is available from ing the board, you can choose from a PCB The basic idea is very simple: each subsys- the Elektor Shop (item number 071035- terminal strip (K2) for use with an 8–12 V tem of the circuit (see the schematic dia- 2). Once you have the ATM18 board, you power source, a male PCB header (K1) or gram in ) provides a function that is often can immediately start developing the soft- female PCB headers (K3 and K4), all three of used in a wide variety of electronic systems. ware for your application. The modules fit which can be used with a 5 V power source. All inputs and outputs are brought out to together very nicely, and the result is some- If you aren’t overly fond of cutting and strip- PCB headers for easy access. The addresses, thing you can show with pride. ping short lengths of wire and you’re tired digital inputs and so on are configured by of seeing them break after being used just jumpers. Using a normal printer, you can Mating modules a few times, we have a handy tip for you. easily generate an overlay for the PCB with All of the PCB headers are located at the You can buy ready-made breadboard jump- appropriate signal names and I/O labels, edge of the PCB, so they can easily be ers from Sure [2] and save yourself time and which you can place on top of the board. marked with the appropriate signal names trouble. They are available in both male The link between the EduCard and the or I/O labels. This way you can see exactly and female versions (). All of the connec- ATM18 board requires only 19 leads. The which lines are connected to the ATM18 tions necessary to use this board properly 32 02-2011 elektor
  • 33. 61002 ATM18 EDUCARD VDD VDD VDD D2 VDD IC8 D4 7805 1 3 BAT85 R19 R18 R2 C4 D3 U_VAR IC4 VDD 1 P1 1N4001 K2 K1 2k2 2k2 10k VDD C6 100n 2 R1 R20 BAT85 3 6 C10 C9 C11 C1 C7 100n SCK VREFA SS(1) 2 8 0 0 10K CS VOUTA K8 56R 4 5 470u 100n 100n 100u IC1 1k SDI LDAC 16V 8 AVSS VDD 1 7 INT OSC0 INT D1 BT1 X1 6 SCL MCP4921 K7 7 SCL DC_OUT(1) 5 SDA SCK SCK CR2032 3V SDA 2 3 MOSI OSC1 A0 JP1 VDD 32.768kHz VSS MOSI SS(1) SS(2) PCF8583 4 U_VAR IC5 C5 1 VDD 100n VDD 3 SCK VREFA 6 K11 BUZZER K6 SS(2) 2 8 VDD CS VOUTA K9 4 5 SDI LDAC K12 DATA_LCD AVSS R21 R22 R23 R24 CLK_LCD VDD MCP4921 7 DC_OUT(2) VDD 1k 1k 1k 1k R9 C2 10k 100n K5 IC7 VDD SCL 1 3 JP10 JP11 16 JP8 JP9 SDA 2 R30 K16 VDD 2 INT 3 VDD SDA 15 4 DQ 4k7 SDA P0 DQ 4 SCL 14 IC2 5 SCL P1 OUT_IR 5 R5 R4 R3 6 P2 IC6 BUZZER 6 1 3 INT 13 7 DS18S20 10k 10k 10k INT P3 DATA_LCD 7 9 VDD P4 2 CLK_LCD 8 1 10 DQ A0 P5 C1 9 2 PCF8574 11 A1 P6 R25 R26 R27 R28 DQ C2 10 3 12 A2 P7 C3 11 1 JP4 JP3 JP2 DS18S20 VSS 1k 1k 1k 1k C4 12 R1 13 8 R2 14 R3 15 C1 C2 C3 C4 R4 16 R31 R32 R33 R34 JP12 JP13 JP14 JP15 470R 470R 470R 470R VDD VDD C3 S1 S2 S3 S4 K4 R10 VDD 1 2 3 F 100n R35 K15 150R R1 OUT_IR 470R R11 VDD VDD LD1 16 150R VDD S5 S6 S7 S8 3 8 VDD SDA 15 4 R12 10 R29 4 5 6 E CA CA SDA P0 a SCL 14 IC3 5 150R 9 R36 SCL P1 b R2 100R R8 R7 R6 6 R13 7 470R P2 c K14 INT 13 7 150R 5 10k 10k 10k INT P3 d S9 S10 S11 S12 9 R14 4 C8 P4 e 1 10 150R 2 7 8 9 D K3 A0 P5 f R37 100n K13 2 PCF8574 11 R15 1 470R R3 A1 P6 g 3 12 150R 6 A2 P7 dp JP7 JP6 JP5 VSS R16 S13 S14 S15 S16 GND 150R HDSP-315L A 0 B C 8 R17 R38 R4 150R 470R 100472 - 11 Figure 1. EduCard schematic diagram. with the ATM18 board are listed in Table 1 always know where to find it. The 1-Wire for easy reference. devices transmit their digital data over the Features bus. The device identifier is protected by a • 2 temperature sensors on 1-Wire bus Just one wire cyclic redundancy check (CRC) code to pre- • 2 DACs with SPI interface The 1-Wire bus was developed by Dallas vent address errors on the bus. • RC5 sensor Semiconductor and Maxim; it also goes by A free API called ‘TMEX’ is available from • Matrix keypad the name ‘MicroLAN bus’. The nice thing Dallas/Maxim. You can use the attractive • 7-segment LED display about this bus is that you can connect a iButton Viewer user interface to access • 8 digital inputs on I2C bus nearly unlimited number of I/O devices to and program all 1-Wire devices on the bus, • Real-time clock your board with just one twisted-pair cable, although in this case the ATM18 board looks which has a maximum length of several after this task for you. 1-Wire devices that • Potentiometer dozen metres. This is what is called a ‘multi- do not draw very much current can take • 5-V supply voltage drop’ system. Under certain conditions, the their operating power directly from the bus can be extended as far as 300 metres bus. This is called ‘parasitic power mode’, (1,000 ft.) or so. Each device on the bus and it utilises the fact that the signal level on ate in this mode. Connector K16 is provided has a unique 65-bit identification number. the bus is often in the High state, so a cur- to allow you to connect additional 1-Wire Another handy feature is that the ID num- rent of a few milliamperes flows through the devices. Although individual 1-Wire devices ber is marked on the device package, so you bus lead. The two sensors shown in oper- usually draw less than 100 μA, there is nat- elektor 02-2011 33
  • 34. 61002 ATM18 EDUCARD urally a limit to how many devices operat- ing in parasitic power mode can be con- nected to the bus. It is always possible to power some of the devices on the bus from a separate 3-V or 5-V power supply. Two DS1820 temperature sensors are present on the board as standard. Here we should mention that the DS18S20 as opposed to the DS1820, normally takes around 500 to 750 ms to convert a temperature reading to a bus signal. Figure 2. Ready-made breadboard jumpers. Everyone on the bus The Inter Integrated Circuit Bus, usually des- ignated ‘I2C bus’, was developed in the early 1980s by Philips for use in consumer electron- DS18S20 ics and home automation systems, in partic- 3 ular to provide a convenient way to link the 2 various circuits in modern television sets to a DQ microcontroller. Atmel and some other com- panies call this system ‘Two Wire Interface’. 1 The I2C bus is a synchronous bus with two to other leads plus ground. One lead is designated 1-Wire BUS 1-Wire DEVICES ‘SDA’ and carries the data, while the other lead is designated ‘SCL’ and carries the clock signal. Addressing is used to ensure that the 100742 - 14 data arrives where it is supposed to go. The EduCard has three components con- Figure 3. Basic operating principle of the 1-Wire bus. nected directly to an onboard I2C bus: two PCF8574 devices and one PCF8583. The PCF8574s provide two 8-bit digital I/O ports (one each) for general purpose use. One port drives a seven-segment display, while the other can be configured and used as 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 desired. It can be accessed via eight jump- ers (JP8–JP15). The PCF8583 contains a real time clock and calendar and is equipped with a backup battery (a CR2032 3 V lithium cell fitted in battery holder BT1). The appro- priate address assignments are listed in . Note that there is also an ‘A’ version of the PCF8574, which uses a different addressing scheme. Its most significant nibble is set to a fixed value of ‘0011’ binary (hex 7x). TOGGLE BIT Invisible remote control The RC5 standard for infrared data trans- mission is also a Philips invention. The START DEVICE COMMAND fourteen data bits are biphase coded 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 (Manchester coded) and available on 100742 - 13 pin 5 of connector K5. If you have a uni- versal remote control unit programmed for controlling a Philips television set (TV1 Figure 4. RC5 frame format. mode), pressing the ‘2’ button will cause 34 02-2011 elektor
  • 35. 61002 ATM18 EDUCARD Table 1. Connectors, jumpers and their functions. Function Connections Description Power K1, K2, K3, K4 5 VDC or 8 - 12 VDC external source; indicated by LED D1 Keypad K5 pins 9–16 C1, C2, C3, C4, R1, R2, R3, R4 K5 pins 1–3 SCL, SDA, INT I2C PCF8583 (IC1): RTC JP1 Address: on: A0 = 0; off: A0 = 1 K10 CR2032 button cell K5 pins 1–3 SCL, SDA, INT I2C PCF8574 (IC2): 8 digital inputs JP2, JP3, JP4 Address: A0, A1, A2 JP8–JP15 8 digital inputs: P0_E–P7_E K5 pins 1–3 SCL, SDA, INT JP5, JP6, JP7 Address: A0, A1, A2 I2C PCF8574 (IC3): 8 digital outputs The states of the 8 outputs are shown by 7 segments and deci- mal point of the 7-segment display. K7 pins 1–4 SCK, MOSI, SS(1) (IC4), SS(2) (IC5) SPI MCP4921 (IC4 and IC5): two DACs K8 and K9 DC_OUT1, DC_OUT2 (2 analogue outputs) 1-Wire DS1820 (IC6 and IC7): two digital tem- K16 pins 1–6 GND, DQ, GND, GND, DQ, GND perature sensors connected in parasitic power K5 pin 4 DQ mode K13, K14, K15 TSOP2236 to GND, VCC and OUT_IR RC5: infrared receiver K5 pin 5 OUT_IR output K11 and K12 Intended for buzzer (+ and GND) Buzzer K5 pin 6 Buzzer input Potentiometer K7 pin 5 Output range 0–5 V VDD, GND, DATA_LCD and CLK_LCD for driving the LCD modu- Two-line Elektor LCD module K6 pins 1–4 le; DATA_LCD and CLK_LCD are available on K5 pins 7 and 8 the waveform shown in to appear on the by five address bits to select the device that tors K8 and K9. The converter ICs are config- output connected to pin 5 of connector should execute the command, and finally ured as bus slaves and are enabled by pull- K5. The first two bits always have a value six bits corresponding to the pressed but- ing their Chip Select (CS) inputs Low. Data of ‘1’ and are used for synchronisation. ton (in this case ‘2’). from the microcontroller is clocked into the They are followed by a toggle bit, which Master Out Slave In (MOSI) input of each changes state when a button is pressed (or Analogue outputs converter by the clock signal on the SCK pressed again). This means that the tog- The EduCard has two 12-bit D/A converters line. The data is formatted as 16-bit words. gle bit stays the same as long as a button implemented with type MCP4921 ICs. The The first 4 bits contain configuration infor- is held pressed. The toggle bit is followed analogue outputs are available on connec- mation, while the remaining 12 bits contain Table 2. I2C device addresses. Component ADDRESS PCF8583 (IC1) : RTC 1 0 1 0 0 0 JP1 RW $A0 PCF8574 (IC2) : 8 inputs 0 1 0 0 JP4 JP3 JP2 RW $40 PCF8574 (IC3) : 8 outputs 0 1 0 0 JP7 JP6 JP5 RW $42 elektor 02-2011 35
  • 36. 61002 ATM18 EDUCARD Table 3. Connections between EduCard and ATM18 board. Function Educard ATM18 Two-line LCD module DATA_LCD, CLOCK_LCD PB2, PB1 Matrix Keyboard C1, C2, C3, C4, R1, R2, R3, R4 PD0, PD1, PD2, PD3, PD4, PD5, PD6, PD7 Buzzer BUZZER PC5 DS1820 (1-Wire) DQ PC4 RC5 (infrared) OUT_IR PC3 I2C SDA, SCL PB0, PC2 SPI SS(1), SS(2), MOSI, SCK PC0, PC1, PB3, PB5 CS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 (MODE 1,1) SCK (MODE 0,0) CONFIG BITS 12 DATA BITS SDI A/B BUF GA SHDN D11 D10 D9 D8 D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1I D0 100742 - 16 Figure 5. Two successive bytes on the SPI bus. the value to be converted (see ). Low), while the second parameter deter- figured to operate An SPI link supports four different operat- mines whether data is clocked in or out on in SPI mode 0, which ing modes depending on the values of two the first edge or the second edge of the means that the clock is parameters. The first parameter determines clock signal when after the CS input goes inactive when Low (polarity the clock polarity (active High or active active (Low). Here these converters are con- = Low) and data is transferred on first clock edge after CS goes Low. The data is transmitted with the most significant bit first (data order = MSB). A few other configu- ration settings are: /SHDN = 1 Disable sleep state A/B = 0 Write data to DACA; there is actually no other choice with only one DAC per IC BUF = 0 No buffer for VREF /GA = 1 Gain = 1; VOUT = (VREF × 1 × D)/4096 If D = 100011111111 (binary) = 2303 (deci- mal) and VREF = 5 V, the voltage at the output of the converter should therefore be 2.811 V. The glue The firmware is the glue that bonds all these components together. We generated the firmware using BASCOM-AVR 2.0.1.0, which has a solid track record. The firmware includes test routines for all of the components on the EduCard. shows what you should see on the display after Figure 6. What you should see on the power-up. Use the following procedure to display when you test your EduCard. prepare for testing the EduCard: 36 02-2011 elektor
  • 37. 61002 ATM18 EDUCARD • Connect the LCD module to K6 and the IC8 = 7805 buzzer to K11/K12 on the EduCard (the COMPONENT LIST LCD module was described in the May Resistors Miscellaneous 2008 issue of Elektor and is available R2–R9 = 10kΩ X1 = 32.768kHz quartz crystal R18,R19 = 2.2kΩ CR2032 Lithium button cell, 3 V from the Elektor Shop under item num- R20 = 56Ω S–S16 = pushbutton, PCB mount, push to ber 071035-93). make, e.g. SPNO-B3S series (Omron), Far- R1,R21–R28 = 1kΩ • Using 19 breadboard jumpers, connect nell # 118-1016 R10–R17 = 150Ω the EduCard to the ATM18 board as R31–R38 = 470Ω K2,K8,K9 = PCB solder pins or 2-way PCB ter- described in . R29 = 100 Ω minal block R30 = 4.7kΩ K1 = 2-pin pinheader, lead pitch 0.1’’ • Connect an external AC P1 = 10k horizontal, trimpot (2.54mm) power adapter to the K3,K4,K7 = 5-pin socket strip, lead pitch 0.1’’ ATM18 board. (2.54mm) Capacitors • Download C1 = 100μF 16V radial K6 = 4-pin socket strip, lead pitch 0.1’’ Development_ C2–C6,C8,C9,C11 = 100nF (2.54mm) K5 = 16-pin socket strip, lead pitch 0.1’’ Board_Test. C7 = 22pF trimmer or 22pF capacitor C10 = 470μF 25V radial (2.54mm) hex to the K10 = PCB mounting for CR2032 cell flash K11-K12 = DC buzzer, 5 V/4 kHz Semiconductors mem- D1 = LED, low current, green K13-K14-K15 = TSOP2236 or equivalent ory. LD1 = 7-segment display, Avago type K16 = 6-pin socket strip, lead pitch 0.1’’ HDSP-315L (2.54mm) D2,D3 = BAT85, Schottky diode JP1–JP15 = 2-pin pinheader with jumper, lead After this, pitch 0.1’’ (2.54mm) D4 = 1N4001 the board can be 3 pcs 8-pin DIL IC socket IC1 = PCF8583 tested using the following IC2,IC3 = PCF8574 2 pcs x 16- pin DIL IC socket procedure: IC4,IC5 = MCP4921 PCB, # 100742-1 (see [1]) IC6,IC7 = DS18S20+ 1. The following message should appear on the LCD: ‘LCD TEST OK’. 2. Matrix keyboard test: press ‘F’ to proceed to this test. 3. PCF8574: the segments of the seven-seg- ment LED should light up in sequence. If the value read is ‘255’, which means that jumper positions JP8 and JP9 are both open, the routine proceeds to the next test. 4. PCF8583: the display shows the date (DD/MM format) and time (e.g. 20/10 11:59:55). At 12:00:00 the routine pro- ceeds to the next test. 5. RC5 mode TV1: press the ‘0’ button on the remote control unit (which must be configured in TV1 mode) to proceed to the next test. 6. 1-Wire: the serial numbers of the two temperature sensors are displayed. Press ‘8’ on the remote control to proceed to the next test. [1] www.elektor.com/100742 7. DAC via SPI: write ‘2048’ to DAC1 and If your EduCard passes all of these tests, it is [2] www.sureelectronics.net/goods. ‘2303’ to DAC2. With VREF = 4.96 V, the working properly. php?id=841 measured values should be 2.480 V on K8 (100742-I) and 2.789 V on K9. 8. Finally, use a voltmeter to measure U_ VAR. Adjust P1 to vary the voltage. Internet Links elektor 02-2011 37
  • 38. 61002 GEOLOCALIZATION Geolocalization without GPS Where am I? Where am I headed? By Clemens Valens (Elektor France Editor) These days, the simplest way to find out your geographical position is to use a GPS receiver or ‘satnav’. A GPS (let’s drop the ‘receiver’) is accurate and works anywhere in the world. GPSs are getting smaller and smaller and performing better and better, and new applications are constantly being found for them. But in spite of how powerful it is, the GPS is not the solution to every geolocalization problem. Where the signals from the GPS satellites can’t get through properly, like indoors or in places surrounded by tall buildings, GPS receivers won’t work correctly. Luckily, there are other solutions. As we’ve often seen in TV detective series, context, real time means periodically). and thereby deduce the ship’s heading. By it is indeed possible to find someone’s posi- Hence this excludes those systems that use, adding a compass card to it, it becomes a tion using their mobile phone. Knowing the for example, RFID tags or barcodes to track real compass, making it possible to read the positions of the cellphone network towers the position of an object or beacon systems ship’s heading off directly. (‘repeaters’) with which it is in contact, we that make it possible to find an object by Speed measurement arrived with the inven- can find out roughly where the telephone is. means of a mobile beacon detector. tion of the ship’s log. These two elements, And if these repeaters are able to compare heading and speed, allow dead-reckoning between them the strength or the arrival A short history of geolocalization navigation, but this still wasn’t accurate time of the phone signals, it’s even possi- Before launching into a description of LPS, enough for longer voyages. ble to get a quite accurate estimate of the its worth taking a little trip back into his- In 1759, an Englishman, John Harrison, position. tory, for the navigation techniques we use invented the marine chronometer, capa- today were developed for the first mariners ble of keeping accurate time during It works the other way round too. If the who sailed the seas and oceans. long months aboard a ship. This allowed mobile phone has a database containing Until the 15th century, sea journeys were improved accuracy for these navigational the positions of the repeater stations, it can almost always coastal: they would sail from approaches and significantly reduced the calculate its own position using the signals port to port without every getting too far risk of running aground. With this kind of transmitted by the repeaters nearby. The away from the coast. They navigated by timepiece, you are able to measure the operators take advantage of this technique observing the stars, the wind, the sea, the longitude by using the principle of time to offer automatic pedestrian guidance or land, and the behaviour of birds and sea differential. local information services. mammals. Basic tools like the star chart Later, the accuracy of these methods was (used by the Arabs) or a wind rose (in the improved and calculation methods refined. And what works with mobile phones and Mediterranean) made it possible to formal- First employed during the First World War, repeater stations can also be used with ize good practice a little. the gyroscopic compass made it possible to other wireless communication systems like get around the difficulties encountered with Wi-Fi, ZigBee, or Bluetooth networks. GPS In the Northern hemisphere, the Pole Star both the declination of the Earth’s mag- works all over the world — it’s a global sys- allows “constant latitude” navigation; in the netism, and the influence of metal masses tem (remember that GPS stands for Global Southern hemisphere, they managed using present aboard ships, which distorted and Positioning System); in the same vein, a other stars and constellations. Then the first complicated the measurements. positioning system using a local network instruments capable of measuring the angle The Second World War led to the emer- is called a Local Positioning System or LPS. of a star made an appearance: the kamal, gence of devices exploiting radio waves, In this article, we’re going to be taking a the cross-staff (‘Jacob’s staff’), the nautical like radar and so-called ‘hyperbolic’ radio look at some systems that make it possi- astrolabe, the quadrant, the octant, and navigation systems like GEE, LORAN, and ble to locate an object (or person) at any lastly the sextant. These instruments make DECCA. These made possible an accuracy moment, i.e. in real time, and anywhere it possible to calculate the latitude with suit- varying between a few metres and a few within the area covered by the cellphone able precision. kilometres. Then they in turn were sup- network. This type of system is known as By the late 12th century, the lodestone was planted by more accurate satellite position- Real Time Location System or RTLS (in this already being used to find magnetic North ing systems. 38 02-2011 elektor
  • 39. 61002 GEOLOCALIZATION The first GPS satellite was launched in 1978 2,500 years ago, when it was used by the requires the angle of incidence (Angle of by the United States. The current system Greek philosopher and astronomer Thales Arrival or AoA) of a radio signal to be meas- comprises 30 satellites orbiting at an alti- of Miletus to measure (with surprising accu- ured. This can be done using several anten- tude of 20,200 km. The Russian equivalent racy) the radius of the Earth’s orbit around nas placed side by side (an array of anten- GLONASS, comprises, at the time of writ- the Sun. It allows an observer to calculate nas, for example, Figure 2) and to measure ing, 26 satellites (20 of them operational) their position by measuring two direc- the phase difference between the signals in orbits at 19,130 km. Europe is lagging tions towards two reference points. Since received by the antennas. If the distance behind with Galileo, supposed to be oper- ational in 2014, but so far, no satellite has been placed into orbit. Satellite positioning systems offer great accuracy, to the nearest metre, or even better. C Triangulation, trilateration, or multilateration? β L sin(α) sin(β) LPS and GPS (not just the US system) both A d L d= use several transmitters to enable a receiver sin(α+β) to calculate its geographical position. Sev- eral techniques are possible, each with its advantages and drawbacks. The important α thing in all these techniques is the notion of a direct path (Line of Sight or LoS). In effect, B 100809 - 12 if the transmitter signal has not taken the shortest path to the receiver, the distance Figure 1. Triangulation: you are at A, from where you can see B and C. If you know their between them calculated by the receiver geographical positions, you can find out your own position with the help of a compass. will be incorrect, since the receiver does not Oh yes you can! know the route taken by the radio signal. Three mathematical techniques are usu- ally used for calculating the position of a receiver from signals received from several the positions of the reference points are between the antennas is small, the inci- transmitters: triangulation, trilateration, known, it is hence possible to construct a dent front of the signal may be considered and multilateration. The last two are very triangle where one of the sides and two of as straight, and the calculation of the angle similar, but should not be confused. the angles are known, with the observer at will be fairly accurate. the third point. This information is enough Triangulation to define the triangle completely and hence It’s also possible to use a directional Triangulation (Figure 1) is a very ancient deduce the position of the observer. antenna to determine the position of a technique, said to date from over Using triangulation with transmitters transmitter. The antenna orientation pro- elektor 02-2011 39
  • 40. 61002 GEOLOCALIZATION C P d A touch). This explains why a GPS needs to ‘see’ at least four satellites to work. Multilateration Using a single receiver listening to the sig- ANT ANT 100809 - 14 100809 - 13 B nals (pulses, for example) from two syn- chronized transmitters, it is possible to measure the difference between the arrival times (Time Difference of Arrival or TDoA) Figure 2. An antenna array makes it Figure 3. The length of the arrows of the two signals at the receiver. Then the possible to measure the angle of incidence corresponds to the arrival time at principle is similar to trilateration, except of a radio signal, and hence its direction. receiver P of the signals broadcast by that we no longer find ourselves on a cir- three transmitters A, B, and C. It forms a cle or a sphere, but on a hyperbola (2D) or measurement of the distances between the transmitters and the receiver. a hyperboloid (3D). Here too, we need four transmitters to enable the receiver to calcu- late its position accurately. The advantage of multilateration is that ducing the strongest signal indicates the circle (for simplicity, let’s confine ourselves the receiver doesn’t need to know at what direction of the transmitter. All you then to two dimensions and ideal transmission instant the signals were transmitted — have to do is take two measurements from conditions) with the transmitter at the cen- hence the receiver doesn’t need to be syn- known transmitters in order to be able to tre. Not very accurate. It gets better with chronized with the transmitters. The sig- apply triangulation. two transmitters — now there are only two nals, and hence the electronics, can be kept positions possible: the two points where the simple. The LORAN and DECCA systems, for Trilateration circles around the two transmitters inter- example, work like this. This technique requires the distance sect. Adding a third transmitter enables us between the receiver and transmitter to to eliminate one of these two possibilities LPS using Wi-Fi and RSSI be measured. This can be done using a (Figure 4). With the advent of Wi-Fi, we now find radio Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), or networks everywhere, and some people else from the time of arrival (ToA, or Time When we extend trilateration to three have had the idea of using these wireless of Flight, ToF, Figure 3) of the signal, pro- dimensions, the circles become spheres. networks to make an LPS. Often in these vided that the receiver and transmitter are Now we need to add one more transmitter cases the ‘L’ of local is limited to a building synchronized — for example, by means of a in order to find the position of the receiver, or just a few rooms. These projects almost common timebase, as in GPS. as the intersection of two spheres is no all use the RSSI signal strength indicator, Thus, when receiving a signal from a single longer at two points, but is a circle (assum- available in the majority of receivers. The transmitter, we can situate ourselves on a ing we ignore the trivial point when they energy in a radio signal from a transmitter broadcasting uniformly in all directions is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the transmitter (in effect, the area of a sphere is equal to 4πr²). Hence the C further we are from the transmitter, the weaker the signal. So the RSSI signal gives us a measure of the distance between the P2 P receiver and the transmitter, and thus can A A A be used for trilateration. B B In reality, RSSI trilateration is not as simple P1 as that, as the RSSI signal is not accurate enough. Already, the manner in which the RSSI depends on the intensity of the radio A B C signal is not necessarily inversely propor- 100809 - 11 tional to the square of the distance from the transmitter, and in addition, the RSSI Figure 4. Two-dimensional trilateration. In 3D, another transmitter has to be added in is influenced by obstacles like partitions or order to determine a position unambiguously. ceilings. 40 02-2011 elektor
  • 41. 61002 GEOLOCALIZATION One way of remedying this is to map the RSSI over the whole area where the posi- tioning system is required to operate. Microsoft’s RADAR project uses this prin- ciple. The receiver measures the RSSI and then searches for the position that best matches on the map (or in a table). To improve the chances of getting the right position, the system takes account of the recent history of the receiver’s movements and the environmental factors that have a direct influence on the RSSI map, like the Figure 5. Wi-Fi coverage in and around the author’s house, drawn with the help of the HeatMapper software. It’s surprising to discover that the neighbours have a hidden Wi-Fi number of people present or the ambient AP in their garden (‘hidden’ means that the SSID is concealed)! temperature. You can watch an animation about RADAR on the Internet [1]. To pro- duce this animation (based on actual meas- urements), it was necessary to ensure that Ekahau, a company spawned by research at ducing a map of the Wi-Fi coverage in your the receiver was at all times receiving at Helsinki University (Finland), is offering a home, based on the RSSI. On a grid or with least four Wi-Fi transmitters (access points). free software application [2] for easily pro- the help of a previously-prepared plan, the Advertisement Fundamental Amplifier Techniques ! N EW with Electron Tubes The ultimate tube amplifier reference book! The aim of this book is to give the reader useful knowledge about electron tube technology in the application of audio amplifiers, including their power supplies, for the design and DIY construction of these electron tube amplifiers. This is much more than just building an electron tube amplifier from a schematic made from the design from someone else: not only academic theory for scientific evidence, but also a theoretical explanation of how the practice works. No modern simulations, but THUMP because you first understand the circuit calculations, then you can work with your 800+ pages! hands to build the circuit and last, but not least, if you have a multimeter, a signal generator and an oscilloscope, you can measure the 834 pages (hard cover) circuit parameters yourself to see that theory and ISBN 978-0-905705-93-4 practice are very close. That is the aim, and makes this £65.00 • US $104.90 book a unique reference source. Further information and ordering at www.elektor.com/shop elektor 02-2011 41
  • 42. 61002 GEOLOCALIZATION WPS One means of exploiting Wi-Fi access points (APs) for geolocalization on a larger scale has been developed by Skyhook [6]. As Google is currently busy doing for its Street View project, Skyhook too is sending cars out to go around towns, but looking for Wi-Fi APs. The geo- graphical positions of the APs and their names (SSIDs) are stored in a database, which already contains over 250 million APs! In this way, the company has created the Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS). In order to find out your position, all you have to do is send the WPS the APs ‘seen’ by your computer or mobile phone. The database will tell you (roughly) where you are. To improve the system, the geographical positions of phone network relay antennas have also been entered into the database. According to the company, the accuracy of the WPS varies between 10 and 20 metres (30 and 60 feet). software (which weighs in at a hefty 100 MB racy of 30 cm (12 in.) and reading distances — it’s hard to understand why it should be up to 100 m (300 ft.). so huge?) plots a brightly-coloured image while you walk around your home with your One RTLS based on ZigBee is being sold by computer (Figure 5). You can then use this Awarepoint [5]. In this system, a building plot for experimenting with a robot fitted is fitted with detectors and their position with a Wi-Fi receiver that provides the RSSI. is indicated on a plan. Objects to be moni- tored are fitted with a beacon that sends out Some commercial LPSs a signal periodically — every five seconds if Several companies market LPSs or RTLSs the beacon is moving, or every minute if it is based on wireless networks. RTLSs are stationary. The detectors then use this sig- standardized in ISO/IEC 24730. They are nal to accurately determine the location of often used for tracking objects or per- the beacon. The position is reported back sons (like Big Brother). In this scenario, the to the central unit, where the database of receiver position is not determined for navi- Figure 6. This RTLS Wi-Fi tag (802.11 b/g/n) all the objects being monitored can be con- gating around, but so it can be transmitted attached to an object makes it possible to sulted. The grid network of detectors also to a master system. Hospitals, for example, locate it with a range of around 50 m (150 monitors the RF conditions and is auto- are very keen on these types of system to ft.) indoors and up to 150 m (450 ft.) in matically adapted when the environment avoid losing track of their patients or equip- free field. changes. ment. Here are a few examples. (100809-I) Ekahau RTLS [3], the flagship product of the Zebra Technologies [4] is the owner of Ekahau company mentioned above, uses WhereNet, which markets the WhereLAN Internet Links Wi-Fi to determiner the position of persons RTLS. This product is compatible with and objects. The system works broadly like Wi-Fi, but adds proprietary access points [1] research.microsoft.com/en-us/ Microsoft’s RADAR, using RSSI mapping, that use the difference in the radio signal um/people/bahl/MS_Projects/ but has been extended with, among other arrival time (DToA), instead of the RSSI sig- RadarDemo/demo.htm things, the notions of ‘problematic paths’ nal. WhereLAN complies with the ISO/IEC [2] www.ekahau.com/products/ (an object cannot pass through walls) and 24730-2 standard. heatmapper/overview.html ‘relevant places’ (an object cannot be at multiple places at the same time). More Zebra also offers a proprietary ultra-wide- [3] www.ekahau.com than anything, this makes it possible to limit band (UWB) radio technique: Dart UWB. [4] zes.zebra.com/technologies/ the calculation power needed, since the sys- This system works like a radar with tran- location/index.jsp tem itself is capable of tracking thousands sponders. A network of transmitters sends [5] www.awarepoint.com of objects at once. The manufacturer also short pulses of UWB electromagnetic sells Wi-Fi tags to allow remote tracking of energy to ‘wake up’ active RFID tags so they [6] www.skyhookwireless.com the movements of an object or person. can then be read. This system offers accu- 42 02-2011 elektor
  • 43. 61002 Here comes the Bus! (2) By Jens Nickel Readers whose memories stretch back to our previous issue access of the bus master to the slave’s I/O pins. The most sig- will recall that in the first part of this series our small but highly nificant of these is that the master must know exactly how each effective team decided that electrically the ElektorBus would slave is wired. For example, if a slave includes a temperature be based on the RS-485 standard, operating over a twisted sensor, the master must somehow know how to convert a raw pair. To provide reliable communications each of our bus par- A/D converter reading into a temperature value. It also makes ticipants needs to be able to send and receive data. The bus is for a lot of bus transactions. Consider, for example, the task of wired as shown in Figure 1, which is based on a Maxim applica- raising a roller blind until a limit switch is actuated. The con- tion note [1]. The screenshot on the next page shows how not versation between master and slave might go something like to do it. this: “Set port pin PB5 High.” “Done that.” “Now, is port pin PC1 High?” “No.” “How With all bus nodes con- CHARACTERISTIC IMPEDANCE = Z 0 about now?” “Yes.” nec ted to the same TERMINATING RESISTOR TERMINATING RESISTOR “Okay, take port pin PB5 RT = Z0 TWISTED PAIR RT = Z0 pair of wires, the obvi- Low at once.” ous six t y-four thou- RT RT sand pound question is: So as you can imagine how do we make sure this idea was rapidly sent that only one bus node on its way to the shred- KEEP AS SHORT KEEP AS SHORT is talking at any given der. After all, what we AS POSSIBLE AS POSSIBLE DATA IN DATA IN DATA IN time? Unlike the CAN have is more of an inter- bus standard, the RS-485 microcontroller commu- standard does not spec- DATA OUT DATA OUT DATA OUT nications protocol aimed if y a mechanism for at a certain narrow range detecting collisions, and of applications than a TRANSCEIVER #1 TRANSCEIVER #2 TRANSCEIVER # n without such a mecha- true bus system. In my nism we are in danger of 1 100864 - 11 mind’s eye I was pictur- losing data. ing a fully-fledged home automation system, with As you might suspect, the slaves having at least we spent some time dis- a modicum of intelli- cussing the problem, gence. This means that coming up with several MASTER SLAVE 1 SLAVE 2 a node should for exam- alternative solutions. ple translate a raw A/D converter reading into a The simplest approach physical quantity so that is to make one of the different types of sensor, “Slaves, I’m listening to your input” nodes the boss, with converter and microcon- the underlings simply troller can be mixed on doing what they are told “Temperature exceeds threshold here” the same bus without and speaking only when “Slave 2, then execute your the bus master needing spoken to. The master- program [window shutter down]” to know the details. It “Window shutter closed!” slave arrangement has 100864 - 13 would also be desirable the advantage that the 2 to implement simple E-LABs INSIDE slave nodes can be kept control loops running very simple and to a within the slave (of the large extent standardised, which in turn relieves the developer form ‘set output X low until input Y goes high’), which would be of a considerable burden: all the nodes can use the same micro- enough to cover cases such as the roller blind example above. controller, and even be running identical firmware. The master simply issues commands like ‘take port pin PB5 High’, or ‘take It also seemed at first sight to be a little impractical to have the a reading from ADC1 and send it to me’. The software in the slaves only send messages on request. When values need to be slave microcontrollers then simply has to parse the commands monitored, this means that the master must interrogate the (of which there need only be a few different types) and then suit slave on a regular basis, which, besides feeling inelegant, might the action to the word). result in latencies unacceptably great for applications such as However (as you might have guessed from the length of this alarm systems. In my vision of the bus system (Figure 2) the article), there are some serious downsides to this quasi-direct master can go into a ‘listen mode’, waiting for a range of events elektor 02-2011 43
  • 44. 61002 such as ‘input 2 on slave 1 has gone low’ or ‘temperature at entation on ‘Time-triggered CAN’ [3]. slave #3 has gone over 100 °C’. By design these events should The advantages of a time-slice architecture were very seductive, be relatively rare, which will help minimise the number of col- but the details involved in synchronisation would be fiddly. I also lisions on the bus. felt that it would be difficult to get such a system up and run- ning with a reasonable amount of development and debugging “That should be enough for a modest home automation sys- time, both for us and for our readers. tem,” said my French colleague Clemens, “but what else could we do with the bus?” “All right then,” said Cle- “Well,” I said, “we could mens, “what about using provide a ‘fast transmit some sort of scheduler?” mode’ to allow rapid This would allocate to point-to-point commu- SCHEDULER JUNCTION 2 JUNCTION 3 each of the other nodes nications.” That would a time to speak based on allow us to send rapidly- the importance of what changing data to the it might have to say, with master, at least from one “Junction 2, please transmit!” the nodes being sched- of the slaves. “Temperature okay” uled in order of decreas- “Junction 3, your turn now” “Nothing to report” ing priority. “Something It was obvious to us both “Junction 2, back to you” like a pre-emptive mul- that in this situation the “Temperature too high here” titasking scheduler,” he “Junction 2, I need to know more” bus would not be avail- “Temperature is 32 degrees C” explained. 100864 - 14 able for other activi- ties and that we could 3 I had to concede that in some circumstances this approach to colli- miss important event notifications from other nodes. “We sion avoidance was not bad, even though it was almost exactly need some kind of prioritisation on the bus,’ said Clemens, ‘we the opposite of what I had originally envisaged. Nevertheless, need nodes that are workers, under-managers, over-managers, the problem still remained of how the scheduler could stop a under-over-managers, over-under-managers...” So, like the CAN node from talking if the bus was needed for something more bus in a car, where (in the fullest sense of the word) vital data important. can always get through? The solution to this came to “And what happens,” asked Cle- me somewhat later: each node mens, warming to his point, would only be allowed to send “when we have more than one a fixed number of bytes before node making decisions? In your having to give way to the next design only the master collects node (Figure 3). If a node reports data, but if all the nodes have a higher-priority event, the access to all data packets, there scheduler would then give it per- isn’t really a single master any mission to speak. All we needed more.” to do now was to try out these fine ideas to see if they would Oh my giddy aunt, I thought to actually work in practice... myself, things are starting to (100864) move quickly. If the nodes are allowed to talk to other nodes What do you think? Feel free to without going via the master, write to us with your opinions then we are getting close to and ideas. designing a network that can tolerate faulty nodes. How do E-LABs INSIDE we stop the nodes from chat- tering away uncontrollably to one another on the bus? “How about allocating defined time-slices?” suggested Clemens, “though that would of course put a limit on the number of devices we could support simultaneously.” [1] http://www.maxim-ic.com/app-notes/index.mvp/id/763 There followed an hour of furious googling and sending one [2] http://www.patent-de.com/20030320/DE10126339A1.htm another links. We discovered, for example, a Siemens patent on (in German) a time-slice-controlled symmetric bus architecture which could [3] http://www-lar.deis.unibo.it/people/crossi/files/SCD/An%20In- be used for sending home-automation commands at the same troduction%20to%20TTCAN.pdf time as multimedia data streams [2]. Also of interest was a pres- 44 02-2011 elektor
  • 45. 61002 Design tips for instrumentation amplifiers By Ton Giesberts (Elektor Labs) keep an eye on? When choosing the opamp, do you have to make a distinction between Many Elektor readers AC and DC applications? Also, when does faithfully keep all their it make sense to use a chopper-stabi- old issues and also fre- lised opamp? What is the maximum quently refer back to accuracy that can be obtained in them when search- practice?” ing for a circuit for a particular application. For these types of ques- Younger readers have tions there is one designer now also discovered how in the Elektor lab who spe- to find these older circuits, cialises in this subject: because these are often of Ton Giesberts! excellent quality and are still relevant to build (for those When designing instru- who are interested: have a mentation amplifiers, a look at the DVD Elektor 1990 number of criteria are impor- through 1999). We frequently tant in order to facilitate the correct receive comments and questions selection of the opamps to be used in it. Criteria that about these old publications. This come to mind are common-mode range, input offset, tempera- is how Elektor reader Marcus Fiese- ture dependence of the input offset, bias current, temperature ler used the circuit from the ‘Univer- dependence of the bias current, bandwidth and power supply sal instrumentation amplifier’ from January 1992 as the basis range. For battery-powered circuits the choice will quickly nar- for his own measuring circuit. While he was experimenting he row to rail-to-rail types. However, with many of the opamps of came up with a number of questions: “I would really like to this type, the characteristics of the amplifier change when oper- know how to dimension an instrumentation amplifier. What ating close to the supply rail. When used in accurate measuring are the criteria when selecting an opamp and what are the systems this is something that certainly has to be taken into most important specifications in the datasheet that I need to account. In these situations you could consider using an invert- C37 15V re5 VOA+ R25 100n 15k C23 C24 1N4148 R20 2W5 R31 C13 0V2 10 C18 100n B 25V 1M 1k5 R27 15p 100n R33 re6 D3 1k8 A 2V A 8k2 R36 C36 R21 3k9 C14 R26 1 R34 IC7 3 7 IC8 100k 1k 8 4k7 1 6 2 7 80p 33p * E-LABs INSIDE re7 IC6 R32 8 R37 1 20V 2 6 2 7 33k OP27 680 B A 8 R22 4 3 6 C15 D4 C19 5 OP64 4 3 10k (A) P3 P4 1n 100n 4 re8 200V 1k 1k 1N4148 TLC2201CP MT MT A (OPA602AP) C16 * C17 R23 R24 VOA- R28 R29 R30 C20 R35 R38 C22 C21 1k 1k2 15k 1k5 2k7 10 180 560 100n 8n2 820p 330n 25V (A) A 15V elektor 02-2011 45
  • 46. 61002 ing amplifier as input amplifier. There are then also no problems When the instrumentation amplifier functions as the front-end the with common-mode dependency of some characteristics. for an A/D converter, then the amount of noise determines the maximum resolution of the A/D converter. If you want a band- With some opamps, in particular the bipolar types, the bias cur- width that’s as large as is possible, then you will quickly bump rent depends on the common-mode voltage at the inputs. In a into the theoretical noise of the amplifier stages and not in the non-inverting amplifier there is a greater chance that the output last place the impedance of the voltage divider for the meas- voltage deviates, depending on the values of the resistors used. uring ranges, too. The noise of a resistor is determined by the This results in distortion with AC voltage signals, and with DC well-known formula √(4KTBR). For example, let’s take a resis- voltage measurements a gain that appears to change with the tor as a noise source and an 8-bit A/D-converter. With a 1 V change in input voltage. This is nowhere to be found in most reference and a desired bandwidth of 1 MHz, the value of the datasheets. resistor may amount up to 115 MΩ. Above that the noise will clearly exceed 1 LSB. With this calculation we have assumed A good example of where this information is provided in the ‘sine-shaped’ noise and have divided the size of the resolu- form of a chart (BIAS AND OFFSET CURRENT vs INPUT COM- tion by 2√2 (peak-to-peak). We’ll ignore for the moment that MON-MODE VOLTAGE) is the OPA111 from Burr-Brown (Texas the noise can have bigger peaks in practice. It’s a good idea to Instruments these days). But with a maximum bias current choose the impedance of the voltage divider as half the calcu- of 1 pA this is not a problem in most applications. When lated value or even lower. We will also assume for the moment we look at an OP27, where the bias current can amount to that the voltage divider is not frequency compensated. For the several tens of nA (and because of internal bias correction resistor R we have this can be either positive or negative), then we can expect a problem with DC voltage stability when using larger val- R = ((Vref / 2N) / 2√2)2 / (4 × 1.38 x 10-23 × 300 × 1 × 106) ues of resistors. Because of noise it is better to choose lower impedances, and you will then also have less of a problem where 300 K = T; 1.38 x 10-23 = Boltzmann constant K, and N is with DC voltage variation due to bias current. Very good opa- the number of bits. mps are available for extremely stable DC voltage measure- For 12 bits a resistance of up to 450 kΩ is allowed, at 16 bits, ments, such as the OPA177, a device with an offset of only 1.76 kΩ and at 24 bits, just 26.8 mΩ (with a 1 kHz bandwidth 25 μV (F-type). this equates to 26.8 Ω). Clearly, with a resolution of 12 bits and an even higher bandwidth — for example a digital oscilloscope For even more accurate DC voltage measurements you could and a 10:1-probe — a certain amount of noise will be visible. In consider using chopper-stabilised opamps. Devices such as the the active parts there is further contribution to the noise level TLC2654 or ICL7650 have and offset of less than5 μV. There are mainly from the first amplifier stage. also related models such as the AD8551 from Analog Devices, However, in practice, the frequency compensation will be which possess a special auto-correction circuit (this one has an around 10 kHz, for example 1 MΩ and 15 pF. If we calculate offset of only 1 μV). Their disadvantage however is that none of the number of bits, only taking the noise contribution from the these are particularly fast amplifiers. With chopper-stabilised voltage divider: opamps it’s recommended to stay at least a factor of 10 below the chopper frequency. This is perhaps the reason why there are Vref / 2N = 3.64 x 10-5. so few chopper-stabilised opamps (for example, the MAX420 and ICL7650 have disappeared from the Maxim line-up). These From this follows 2N = 27474 or N = (log10 27474 / log10 2) = days there are also normal opamps with equal, if not better, 14.75 bits. specifications. Add to this the noise from the amplifiers and the chaotic nature More bandwidth is usually a trade-off with reduced DC volt- of noise, you soon realise why the resolution of those top of the age stability, so you need to strike a compromise. There are range oscilloscopes is usually around 12 bits. now opamps that have a bandwidth of several 100 MHz. If a lot of gain and good linearity are required, then you could When using microcontrollers for taking measurements of sen- consider dividing the gain across two or more separate sors, you could even use the noise to your advantage to obtain stages. The overall bandwidth will be greater for any given a higher resolution than that of the internal A/D converter. By E-LABs INSIDE gain. For the total gain this has the disadvantage that the using a considerable amount of oversampling and averaging accuracy is reduced by about 2 % with each stage when using you can obtain a much more accurate measurement. In addi- 1 % tolerance resistors. An amplifier stage will now need to tion, software offers the possibilities of correcting non-lineari- have a potentiometer added to allow for calibration. The ties and other defects. But that is a different story. impulse response of the total amplifier is also more com- (100812-I) plex. When searching for the right opamp it is often difficult to find the desired impulse response. It is usually necessary to use frequency compensation in the feedback circuit (or Internet Links some other method). With multiple amplifier stages it is nec- essary to tune the individual frequency compensations with www.analog.com/library/analogDialogue/archives/39-05/ each other. And then we haven’t even mentioned frequency Web_ChH_final.pdf compensated voltage dividers with multiple ranges. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operational_amplifier 46 02-2011 elektor
  • 47. 61002 Subscribe now to the leading US-based computer applications magazine specializing in embedded systems and design! Select your personal subscription at www.elektor.com/cc-subs 12 editions per year for just Digital: $38 Print: $63 Digital + Print: $90
  • 48. 61002 INFRARED THERMOMETER Contactless Thermometer Are you running an infrared temperature? By Christian Tavernier (France) It’s easy these days to find several cheap sensors for contactless thermometers, also called infrared thermometers. These sensors, which measure the infrared radiation from objects, make it possible to build a contactless thermometer yourself with performance easily as good as its commercial counterparts. Technical specifications • Infra-red detecting thermometer • PIC16F876A microcontroller • Four line × 20 character LCD display • Displays ambient and object temperatures • Stores minimum and maximum temperatures • Runs off two 1.5 V cells • Open-source software Our thermometer measures at the same mometer automatically remembers the This IC, which comes in a metal TO-39 pack- time both the ambient temperature and the maximum and minimum temperatures of age with a window, should not be regarded temperature of any object placed within its objects, and displays everything on a backlit as just any old temperature sensor, like a ‘field of view’. And even though the ambi- LCD display with four lines of 20 characters. thermistor, for example, as it includes a ent temperature range ‘only’ goes from −40 Thanks to the sensor used, it only needs two whole load of processing and shaping cir- to +125 °C, the object temperature can be ICs: a perfectly ordinary PIC microcontroller cuitry (Figure 1). from −70 to +380 °C, and all with an accu- and a switching regulator to power it. The sensor proper is an infrared thermopile racy of 0.5 °C and a measurement resolu- (or two, depending on the IC version) that tion of 0.02 °C. MLX90614 sensor delivers a very low, non-linear signal which In order to be self-contained and portable, The sensor we’ve chosen is the MLX90614 would thus be difficult to use directly. This it runs off batteries or rechargeable cells, from Melexis, and it’s this that gives our signal is first amplified by a chopper-stabi- and for even greater convenience, our ther- thermometer its excellent performance. lized opamp. It is then converted to digi- 48 02-2011 elektor
  • 49. 61002 INFRARED THERMOMETER OPA ADC DSP PWM t° tal in a delta-sigma type converter before 81101 STATE MACHINE being applied to a digital signal processor (DSP). After noise filtering and sensor sig- Voltage nal processing performed by this DSP, the Regulator 90302 temperature information is available in a directly-usable digital form. 100707 - 12 To simplify interfacing, the sensor can pro- vide this information via a 2-wire SMBus (virtually identical to the I²C) or in the form Figure 1. Internal block diagram of the MLX90614 sensor. of a PWM (pulsewidth modulated) signal. Although the latter mode does make it simpler to connect up the MLX90614, the 1 7 1 1 8 1 1 7 1 1 PWM signals are trickier to process than S Slave Address Wr A Command A Sr Slave Address Rd A those from the SMBus. What’s more, the resolution in PWM mode is only 0.14 °C, as against 0.02 °C in SMBus mode. Depending on the version, this IC runs off a 8 1 8 1 8 1 1 single power rail of either 3 V or 5 V, so you Data Byte Low A Data Byte High A PEC A P need to pay great attention to which 100707 - 13 type you’ve got before fitting it into this circuit — we nearly learnt the hard way… Figure 2. Principle of one of the sensor’s RAM read frames. Talking to the sensor If we decide to communi- Table 1. The main commands for reading the temperatures. cate with the sensor in Command Code (hexadecimal) SMBus mode — which Raw ambient temperature 0x03 is what we’ve done Temperature, IR sensor 1 0x04 in our thermometer — the syntax to be Temperature, IR sensor 2 0x05 used is relatively Linearized ambient temperature 0x06 simple, provided Linearized sensor 1 temperature 0x07 we don’t want to Linearized sensor 2 temperature 0x08 modify the internal parameters, which are factory-set but perfectly suit- able for our needs. To read the ambient we call the 15-bit word output N, and given fortunately PIC microcontrollers with an I²C temperature and the temperature of the the sensor resolution in SMBus mode, the interface are able to handle, as long as we objects the sensor is aimed at, all you have measured temperature T expressed in K is correctly program one bit in one of the con- to do is read from two different locations given by: trol registers in their MSSP interface. in its internal RAM, which is done using an T = 0.02 × N SMBus frame similar to the one in Figure 2. Thermometer circuit After sending the sensor its slave address, But as it’s more user-friendly to read a tem- Clearly, the sensor’s high degree of integra- all you then have to do is send it a com- perature in degrees centigrade (Celsius), tion simplifies the circuit of our thermome- mand, chosen from those proposed in the thermometer software simply uses the ter, which can therefore be based on a sim- Table 1 as far as temperature measure- formula: ple PIC microcontroller, as long as it has an ment alone is concerned. Sending its slave T = 0.02 x N − 273.15 I²C interface. Here the 16F876A was chosen. address again then lets you receive back two bytes containing the LSB and MSB of If you’re not familiar with the SMBus, don’t As shown in Figure 3, our PIC is used in the temperature, followed by a check poly- worry, it’s 99 % identical to the better- crystal clock mode (20 MHz) and has a nomial, marked PEC in Figure 2, which we known I²C bus. It only differs in a few sub- manual reset command via the button S1, won’t be using here. tleties in the protocol, which are unimpor- included to allow the memories containing The temperatures, expressed in Kelvin, are tant here, and by a small difference in terms the maximum and minimum temperatures represented by unsigned 15-bit words. If of the electrical levels; a difference that very to be reset. elektor 02-2011 49
  • 50. 61002 INFRARED THERMOMETER COMPONENT LIST Resistors (0.25W 5%) R1,R4,R6 = 10kΩ R2, R5 = 100Ω R3 = 1.5kΩ P1 = 10 kΩ trimpot, horizontal Capacitors C1,C3 = 100μF 16V, radial, lead pitch 2.5mm C2 = 470nF 63V, MKT, lead pitch 5 or 7.5mm C4 = 10μF 25V, radial, lead pitch 2.5mm C5, C8 = 22pF ceramic, lead pitch 0.2’’ (5.08mm) C6 = 100nF ceramic, lead pitch 5 or 7.5mm C7 = 10nF ceramic, lead pitch 5 or 7.5mm Inductors L1 = 10μH, Panasonic type ELC08D100E (RS Components) Semiconductors IC1 = LT1300 Miscelllaneous Pinheader pins, lead pitch 0.1’’ (2.54mm) IC2 = PIC16F876A-I/SP, programmed, Elektor LCD1 = LCD, 4 lines of 20 characters, e.g. Dis- Pinheader sockets, lead pitch 0.1’’ (2.54mm) # 100707-41 playtech 204A PCB, Elektor # 100707-1 IC3 = Sensor type MLX90614ESF-BAA or MLX- X1 = 20MHz quartz crystal, HC18/U case 90614ESF-AAA (see text) S1 = pushbutton, 1 make contact, ITT type D6 D1 = 1N5817 (must-have Schottky) if fitted on PCB D2 = 3.3V 0.4W zener diode S2 = swich, changeover, or wire link DIL IC sockets: 1 pc 8-way; 1 pc 28-way The display used is an LCD type, with or visible, which is a bit of a shame. The display cells (or two 1.2 V NiMH rechargeables) by without backlight as you prefer, depend- is used in 4-bit mode, driven from port B of way of the LT1300 switching step-up DC-DC ing on whether or not switch S2 is closed the microcontroller. converter. This IC provides a stabilized 5 V (or a link is fitted). Ideally, you should use output from any input voltage between 2 a perfectly standard type with four lines The two bus lines coming from the sensor and 5 V. It is capable of supplying a current of 20 characters, but the circuit also works terminate at RC4 and RC3 of the PIC respec- of 400 mA, i.e. a great deal more than is with a pin-compatible two-line, 16-charac- tively, the inputs to parallel port C, which needed for our thermometer. ter type. In this instance, the two lines dis- are shared with its internal I²C interface. Although the sensor does exist in a 5 V playing the minimum and maximum are not The circuit is powered at 5 V from two 1.5 V version, the most readily available at the 50 02-2011 elektor
  • 51. 61002 INFRARED THERMOMETER moment is the 3 V version. This explains temperature and 0x07 for the the reason for resistor R2 and its associated temperature of the object); zener diode (D2). Note here that the SMBus • send a repeated start signal; load resistors R4 and R6 are returned to the • send the IC’s slave address, this time 5 V rail all the same, in order to guarantee with Read mode selected (R/W = 1); correct electrical levels at the PIC input. But • receive a series of three bytes: the LSB there’s no risk to the MLX90614, as it has and MSB of the temperature, then the internal limiting diodes. PEC (not used in our application); • send a stop signal to terminate the I²C/ Software SMBus transaction; The software (copiously annotated source • and finally, reconstruct the 15-bit code and HEX file) is available for free down- word containing the temperature loading from [1] and [2]. It has been written by concatenation of the two bytes in MikroBasic from Mikroelektronika, which received. has the advantage of having available a per- fectly functional I²C library. Note that the We’ll leave you to analyse the rest of our size of the compiled software is over 2 KB program with the help of our copious notes, and so it can’t be compiled using the demo and move on to the practical aspects of version of this compiler. construction. Judging by the content of the Internet Construction forums devoted to the MLX90614, some With the aim of simplifying the mechanical the MLX90614ESF-BAA. The letter B indi- users seem to have encountered difficulties, side of building the thermometer, we’ve cates that it runs on 3 V. If you come across so we thought it would be worth comment- designed a PCB the same size as the dis- an MLX90614ESF-AAA, this is a 5 V version ing here on the relevant section of code. play board, so it can be mounted on the that can still be used in our circuit, but in back of it. that case you’ll need to remove D2, C4, and The procedure for reading the temperature C7, and replace R2 by a wire link. is called using the parameter ‘com’ for the Sourcing the components should not pre- Note that L1 must be capable of carrying a chosen command. The procedure then scru- sent any problem. The display used is a Dis- current of 800 mA without saturating. Oth- pulously adheres to the instructions from playtech 204A, but in theory at least any erwise the LT1300 will work very badly, or Melexis, namely: 4 line × 20 character LCD display using a not at all. standard interface (ST7066, HD44780, or • send a start signal to start the I²C/SMBus KS066 controller) will do, as well as any 2 The sensor can be remoted to the case via transaction; line × 16 character LCD display, as indicated the four connecting pins provided for the • send the IC’s slave address (Melexis above, albeit with the loss of the min. / max. purpose, but to avoid possible interference specifies in the data sheet that all the ICs display. and distortion of the SMBus signals, it’s respond to the address 0x00) with Write preferable not to extend its connections mode selected (R/W = 0); The MLX90614 exists in numerous versions, more than a few tens of cm. • send the command contained in the distinguished by the part number suffixes. variable ‘com’ (0x06 for the ambient The commonest and cheapest version is We fitted 2.54 mm (0.1”) pitch sockets on the back of the display and pins at the same pitch on the copper side of the PCB. In this Sub procedure Read_temp(dim com as byte) way, you can produce an assembly that’s I2C1_Start() ‘ issue I2C start signal easy to remove in the event of problems. I2C1_Wr(0x00) ‘ send address (device address + W) I2C1_Wr(com) ‘ send command Use and adapting I2C1_Repeated_Start() ‘ issue I2C signal repeated start to your own needs I2C1_Wr(0x01) ‘ send address (device address + R) The thermometer operates as soon as SensorLow = I2C1_Rd(1) ‘ Read temp. low byte (acknowledge) power is applied, and the first line of the SensorHigh = I2C1_Rd(1)‘ Read temp. high byte (acknowledge) display gives you the ambient temperature, PEC = I2C1_Rd(1) ‘ Read PEC (not used) i.e. that of the sensor case. The second line I2C1_Stop() ‘ issue I2C stop signal shows the temperature of the object the SensorRaw = SensorLow + (SensorHigh << 8) ‘ Build temp. word sensor is pointing at, i.e. the average of the End sub temperatures of the objects in the sensor elektor 02-2011 51
  • 52. 61002 INFRARED THERMOMETER The maximum and minimum object tem- bration parameters, rendering any subse- peratures are stored automatically, and quent measurements inaccurate. display on the last two lines of the display. (100707) They are updated at the same time as the measurements, which take place once per Internet Links second. [1] www.elektor.com/100707 To reset the minimum and maximum, all [2] www.tavernier-c.com you have to do is press the reset button. Can also be read without contact, but using You can adapt the software to your own a mobile phone. needs and make the thermometer behave quite differently. However, if you want to modify the procedure that handles the window’s field of view. The angle of view of communication with the sensor, only do so the standard version (MLX90614ESF-XAA) if you really know what you’re doing, as it is is not stated. For the MLX90614ESF-XAC it possible to write to it, and incorrect writing is 35°, and 10° for the MLX90614ESF-XAF. may destroy or modify its factory-set cali- LCD1 L1 LC DISPLAY 10uH D1 VDD VSS R/W VO RS D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 A +3V K E C3 C6 6 7 1N5817 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 V IN IC1 SW 2 4 100u 25V 100n SELECT SENSE S2 R6 R4 R2 R1 3 LT1300 5 SHDN I LIM BACKLIGHT 100R 10k 10k 10k 20 GND PGND R3 VDD R5 1 8 1 P1 1k5 MCLR 100R 21 10k IC2 RB0 2 22 RA0/AN0 RB1 CONTRAST 3 23 C1 S1 C2 RA1/AN1 RB2 4 24 RA2/AN2 RB3 100u IC3 470n 5 RA3/AN3 RB4 25 RESET 25V MXL90614 3 6 26 RA4/TOCKI RB5 VDD 7 27 RA5/AN4 RB6 4 2 28 VSS SDA PIC16F876A RB7 SDA 15 RC4/SDA SCL SCL 14 16 RC3/SCL RC5/SDO 1 13 17 RC2 RC6/TX 12 18 RC1 RC7/RX K1 11 SCL RC0 SDA VSS OSC1 OSC2 VSS VDD 8 9 X1 10 19 VSS D2 C4 C7 C5 20MHz C8 10u 10n 3V3 25V 22p 22p 400mW 100707 - 11 Figure 3. Complete circuit of the contactless thermometer. 52 02-2011 elektor
  • 53. 61002 AUDIO & VIDEO TimeClick Programmable camera controller Carlos Ladeira (Portugal) This project dubbed TimeClick controls a digital SLR camera without human intervention using a wired connection. It can take photographs at fixed or random time intervals or in response to sensor input, which makes it suitable for various purposes from HDR photography to sound-triggered pictures. This project came about after having taken • Manual operation for use as wired for the camera on a tripod and let it do all too many photos randomly at events like remote the work. Depending on the power source parties. This way of operating a camera can • Bulb mode used for the device and the camera, you can lead to funny results at best. However, as • Mirror lock have the camera in operation for days. the project developed, the author started to • Exposure bracketing have new ideas and added several new fea- • 12 presets to save different sets of Tools used tures to extend the functionality, such as: configurations The circuit started out on a breadboard and later evolved into a complete PCB design. • Fixed delay between photos Operation is remarkably simple and once For the hardware design (schematics and • Random delay between photos the device is configured and wired to the PCB) open-source CAD program Kicad was • Sensor input to trigger photos camera, you simply choose the right spot used. It is very easy to use, even for first time Elektor Products & Services • Firmware (free download): • - PCB artwork: # 100371-1.pdf • Printed circuit board: # 100371-1 # 100317-11.zip • - Hyperlinks in article • Programmed ATtiny861 microcon- • Manual (free download): Items accessible through troller: # 100371-41 100317-W.pdf www.elektor.com/100371 elektor 02-2011 53
  • 54. 61002 AUDIO & VIDEO LCD1 V+ IC1 +5V BT1 S1 LP2954 1 3 LCDisplay 2 x 16 2 LED+A LED-C VDD VSS C5 C6 C7 C4 R/W K4 RS VL D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 E 3 +5V 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 1 10u 100n 100n 10u 2 25V 16V is using an external power supply. A power R2 T2 switch has been added in this section of the 1k BS170 circuit, see Figure 1. The author’s prototype P1 R8 used six AAA batteries instead of a 9-V block DB4 DB5 DB6 DB7 R/W 10R RS BL E 10k battery, mostly because of the poor battery life of the 9-V block type (IEC 6LR22). +5V +5V +5V Under normal operation the circuit con- K1 sumes about 10 mA with the LCD backlight V+ MISO 1 C9 2 off. If the LCD backlight is on, current con- K8 R11 R1 100n SCK 3 sumption rises to about 100 mA. To save 4k7 1M MOSI 4 energy during operation, the LCD back- 15 RST 5 5 6 AVCC VCC R12 1 DB4 MOSI light is turned off automatically when no PB0 buttons are pressed for 10 seconds. To turn 10k RST 10 2 DB5 MISO RESET PB1 IC2 3 DB6 SCK PB2 9 PB6 PB3 4 DB7 the backlight on again, just press any of the 20 RS device’s buttons. ATtiny861 PA0 19 R/W S2 R16 PA1 12 18 E 68k PA6 PA2 11 PA7 PA3 17 BL Since the LCD needed 5 volts and the same +5V 14 S3 R17 R15 PA4 13 voltage was suitable for powering the rest 15k 10k PA5 IC4 XTAL1 XTAL2 AGND K11 K10 R13 of the circuit, the author went for a stand- GND 1 7 S4 R18 1k K9 ard voltage regulator. Thus, the first pick 16 7 8 6 5k6 X1 2 8 R14 S5 R19 1k 4 6 was the well known 7805. However, a quick C10 1k5 C1 C2 3 5 change of mind occurred after a close look 100p 22p 8MHz 22p CNY74-2 at the datasheet. A 7805 needs at least 7 volts at its input to be able to stabilise its C8 8 output at 5 volts. This of course isn’t any IC3 = LM358P IC3 D1 good when you want to power your circuit 100n 4 K6 R7 K7 K5 from batteries. Moreover, the 7805 is not 5 47k R4 R5 R3 6 IC3B 7 known for its high efficiency... K2 100k 10k 10k R6 R9 470k 2 P2 D2 R10 100k 1 K3 T1 As result of all this, an LP2954 seemed IC3A C3 3 much more appropriate. This is a regula- 4k7 5V1 100n 100k tor with reverse battery protection and a 400mW BC237 100371 - 11 low dropout voltage which helps to extend battery life. Figure 1. Schematics There is a battery level indication option included using R11, R12 and a free ADC port (ADC9) of the microcontroller. users. Since the author has done every- was solved once by restarting the computer The heart of this circuit is an ATMEL thing at home (PCB making using the iron- and ultimately by completely reinstalling ATtiny861 which fits the bill exactly. The ing method), no metallised holes have been AVR Studio. From what can be found in main reason for the author to choose this used and all connections between both lay- postings on the Internet by users with simi- microcontroller instead of another from ers of the PCB are made using wires or com- lar problems, we’ve a hunch it was caused the Atmel family was mostly because of its ponent pins. by a bug in AVR Studio mixed with inappro- availability in SOIC-20 package. This pack- priate procedures. age is not too hard to solder and still is rela- For the software design AVR Studio 4 was tively small. The microcontroller operates at the development tool. The microcontroller The advised procedure for programming 1 MHz. Here, you have two options: just use programming was done with Atmel’s AVR the microcontroller can be found under a crystal of 1 MHz or an 8 MHz device and Dragon using ISP mode. In the beginning Assembling & Programming. set the CKDIV8 fuse when programming. the author experienced some troubles with The 2x16 LCD is used to show information AVR Studio and AVR Dragon. Sometimes Hardware description and allow the user to configure the device. AVR Studio seemed to be able to connect Starting with the power supply, there are It’s being used in 4-bit mode and the LED to the AVR Dragon but unable to communi- two options for powering the device. One backlight is controlled by the microcon- cate with the microcontroller. This problem is using an internal 9-V battery, the other troller through N-channel FET T2. 54 02-2011 elektor
  • 55. 61002 AUDIO & VIDEO The keyboard input is implemented using one ADC input (ADC6) instead of several COMPONENT LIST (digital) ports. That way there is no need Resistors T1 = BC547 for a controller with more input ports and T2 = BS170 R1,R10 = 4.7kΩ consequently no larger package is needed. R2,R13,R14 = 1kΩ IC1 = LP2954IT The voltage the ADC reads depends on the R3,R4,R12,R15 = 10kΩ IC2 = ATTINY861-20SU, programmed, Elektor key pressed. When no key is pressed, the R5,R9 = 100kΩ # 100371-41 R6 = 470kΩ IC3 = LM358P ADC will read roughly 5 V. All ADCs work in R7 = 47kΩ IC4 = CNY74-2 10 bit mode, which means the value read R8 = 1Ω lies between 0 and 1023. With 5 V on the R11 = 1MΩ Miscellaneous ADC pin, the software will read 1023. R16 = 68kΩ K1 = 6-pin (2x3) pinheader, lead pitch If a key is pressed, the voltage on the ADC R17 = 15kΩ 2.54mm (0.1’’) pin may be calculated using the formula: R18 = 5.6kΩ K2,K3,K4,K5,K7,K10,K11 = 3-pin pinheader, R19 = 1.5kΩ lead pitch 2.54mm (0.1’’) P1 = 10kΩ trimpot K6,Bt1 = 2-pin pinheader, lead pitch 2.54mm VADC = VCC – (R15 × VCC) / (R15 + RSW) P2 = 100kΩ trimpot (0.1’’) S1 = switch, SPST where VCC = 5 V, R15 = 10 kΩ and R SW = Capacitors S2,S3,S4,S5 = 6 mm tactile switch type 1.5 kΩ, 5.6 kΩ, 15 kΩ or 68 kΩ depending C1,C2 = 22pF MC32830 on the switch pressed. C3,C6,C7,C8,C9 = 100nF K8 = PCB jack socket, 3.5 mm, stereo, e.g. C4,C5 = 10μF 25V radial Lumberg type 1503 09 C10 = 100pF K9 = PCB jack socket, 2.5 mm, stereo, e.g. The four keyboard switches have the fol- Lumberg type 1501 06 lowing functions: MENU, MINUS, PLUS and Semiconductors X1 = 8MHz quartz crystal ENTER, with which you can adjust the set- D1 = BPW16N photo transistor LCD1 = LCD, 2 x 16 characters, Lumex type ting of the TimeClick. D2 = 5.1V 400mW zener diode LCM-SO1602DSF/A ADC5 is used for sensor input. The sensor is connected through a 3.5-mm jack socket. At the tip there is 5 V available for powering the sensor. The ring carries the sensor out- put signal and the shield is grounded. There are three types of sensor included in the schematic: a light sensor, a sound sen- sor and a vibration sensor (piezo). But of course the sensor range can be extended to whatever sensor you need. To avoid con- nection mistakes, the sensor input jack and the output jack have different sizes. The output signal is available at a 2.5-mm jack socket, as found on some Canon cam- eras. For safety reasons the output of the microcontroller is coupled to the jack via an optocoupler. This device can be used with many differ- ent camera models (see inset Camera Com- patibilty Guide); you only need to have the right adapter cable and the camera should Figure 2. Component layout be able to work with the implemented protocol. are shorted, the camera behaves like the ADC input receiving the voltage a sensor This protocol is rudimentary: it uses three shutter button is fully pressed. generates. Regardless of the type of sensor pins: 1—ground; 2—ring and 3—tip. When used the microcontroller waits for a tran- pins 1 and 2 are shorted, the camera Sensor operation sition (rise or fall) across a trigger value. behaves the same as when the shutter but- The way the sensors work is very easy to When this condition is met, it acts accord- ton is half way pressed. When pins 1 and 3 understand. The microcontroller reads the ingly depending on the configuration, i.e. elektor 02-2011 55
  • 56. 61002 AUDIO & VIDEO Camera Compatibility Guide TimeClick was successfully tested with a Canon 500D, which has a 2.5 mm jack intended for a remote control (E3-type) and a Canon 7D that has a Canon N3 connector for the same purpose. As a result, all cameras from Canon with 2.5 mm jacks should be compatible with TimeClick. This includes models 1000D, 550D, 500D, 450D, 350D, 300D and 60D. The N3 connector is present in Canon models EOS 1D, 5D, 5Dmk2, 7D ,10D, 20D, 30D, 40D and 50D, so these should be compatible too. Of course in this case — since N3 connec- tors are difficult to obtain — the easiest way is to buy a special connecting cord or a cheap remote trigger and just use the N3 connector. Connecting cords are available from [3] for example (go to ‘Remote Accessories’ in the ‘Remote Cords/Wireless/Infrared’ section). Other brands haven’t been tested, but a search using Google revealed that all Pentax cameras use the same pinout as the Canon cameras, so it’s very likely they are compatible. Nikons have different connectors, but they have the same basic functionality. They use an MC-DC1 connector on models D70, D70s and D80, a MC-DC2 connector on models D90, D3100, D5000 and D7000 and a 10-pin connector with different names (MC-20, MC-22, MC-30, MC-36) on models D200, D300, D700, D3 and D3x... So perhaps they can be used with TimeClick too. We would like to hear from you if they do (or don’t). Everyone’s invited to post their findings on the Elektor forum. waits a configured time expressed in ms 12 different profiles where the user can device should be connected. However, since and then fires the shutter. save different operating configurations. the author experienced some mysterious Each profile can be renamed to indicate the occurrences in this step, he advises to stick Always turn off the power before plugging function it was created for. For example, to the following order: and unplugging the sensors. This way short- the user can have a profile for ‘Lightning’, circuits inside the mini-jack connectors are one for ‘Drops’, and so on. Included in the 1. With both TimeClick and AVR Dragon/ avoided. source code at [1] is a file with the EEPROM ISP powered OFF, connect the ISP cable contents of several preconfigured modes. between them. Software description The source code, freely available from Assembling & Programming 2. Then connect the AVR Dragon/ISP to a [1], was written completely in C language A printed circuit board and a programmed USB port capable of supplying more than using the very efficient compiler avr-gcc. microcontroller can be purchased from the 300 mA. About 99% of the 8 K flash space of the Elektor Shop [1]. When assembling your microcontroller is used to store the pro- device, start with the lowest profile compo- 3. Now you can power up TimeClick. gram. It was hard to squeeze all the fea- nents and work your way up to the tallest tures into the device. Several code opti- ones. Figure 2 shows the PC board compo- Next, go to the menu Tools -> Program AVR misations were required. All configuration nent layout. The LCD and switches need to -> Connect to choose the appropriate pro- data are preserved in the EEPROM of the be mounted on the copper side of the PCB. grammer/port and press Connect. Figure 3 microcontroller. Once the board is populated, it is time to shows the window you should see right put some intelligence in! The programming now. It’s important that the programming The program operation is clearly com- of the Atmel microcontroller is done by way mode is set to ISP and that the ISP frequency mented; the program does the initial setup of ISP connector K1. Assuming you’re using is set to 125 KHz (< ¼th of the device clock). and then enters an endless loop. Inside this AVR Studio and AVR Dragon / AVR ISP pro- If everything checks out, an ‘OK’ should be loop is where all the action happens. grammer, here is what you should do: returned after you press Read Signature. TIMER0 is configured to generate a pulse every second to take care of all timing mul- First choose the appropriate device in the Now we’re ready to set the fuses to the tiples of 1 second. menu Project -> Configuration options. correct values as shown in Figure 4. SPIEN To allow for maximum flexibility, there are Next, the programmer and the TimeClick is active as factory default. If you used an 56 02-2011 elektor
  • 57. 61002 AUDIO & VIDEO Figure 3. Connecting to the device. Figure 4. Setting the fuses correctly. Figure 5. Programming the microcontroller. 8 MHz crystal, you should also check • Number of photos taken so far the CKDIV8 fuse as shown in the Battery level • Metering setting screen capture. It is also important Sensor mode • Bulb setting to set the correct clock source, in • Mirror lock setting Operation mode this case select ‘External Crystal 3.0- • Exposure bracketing setting 8.0MHZ’. The Brown-out detection Active profile could avoid EEPROM corruption with Frames count Some of this information is presented batteries at the end of life, so set this using custom characters defined in to 4.3 V. the software. Finally, it’s time to program the Pressing the MENU key while the device. All the needed files are inside main screen is being displayed, ena- the ZIP-file associated with this arti- bles the user to enter the menu cle (100371-11.zip, see [1]). Down- Message area where the configuration takes place. load and extract this file. In the flash Metering mode The menu is intuitive and easy to area, select the file TimeClick.hex and Bulb mode navigate. Press MENU to go back, hit the Program button (Figure 5). At Mirror lock PLUS and MINUS to change val- the end, the device will reboot. Exposure Bracket ues and ENTER to go forward. For a 100371 - 12 more complete reference about the If you want to use the preconfigured operation of the TimeClick, there is EEPROM settings, in the EEPROM a user manual available at [1] and the area select the file TimeClick_Con- Figure 6. Information shown on display. author’s website [2]. figured_eeprom.hex (also inside the (100371) downloadable zip package) and hit the Program button. figured EEPROM settings mentioned before. Software Operation In the main screen the following informa- With the device programmed, it’s ready tion is always visible: for use. When the ENTER key is pressed and Internet Links held during device power on, a reset to fac- • Battery level in steps of 25% [1] www.elektor.com/100371 tory defaults of all configuration possibili- • Sensor mode [2] http://timeclick.no.sapo.pt ties can be carried out. This option will erase • Operation mode all saved configurations, even the precon- • Active profile [3] www.enjoyyourcamera.com elektor 02-2011 57
  • 58. 61002 MIAC & FLOWCODE MIAC Controlled Underfloor Heating System Totally programmable with Flowcode By Ben Rowland (United Kingdom) This heating system sketched in this article keeps you warm in cold times and with the help of Flowcode software is designed for total adaptability to heating capacity and other parameters. The MIAC (Matrix Industrial Automotive t2, which are situated in the floor near the valves to the PEX loops are opened and then Controller) supplied by Elektor is an indus- PEX heating loops. The lookup table data is the boiler and the pump are switched on. trial grade control unit similar to a PLC but generated using an Excel spreadsheet with When the return temperature t3 returns to more feature packed and easier to program values matching those of the thermistors a value above the switch off temperature without having to resort to using ladder (included in the free download 100871-11. the pump and boiler are switched off. logic. It’s based on the powerful 18F4455 zip from the Elektor website [1]). PIC microcontroller and can be directly con- When the temperature of the thermistors Improvements nected to USB, making programming — via drops below a threshold value, we check The program could be improved by allow- Flowcode, C or Assembly — a breeze. An to see if the individual loops are enabled. ing loop1 and loop2 to be enabled or dis- LCD, pushbuttons, four relay outputs, eight If they are, we open the valves connected abled separately to allow for zones to be inputs — selectable analogue or digital — to the individual loops. We then switch on left unheated if required. Another way to and a CAN connection complete the system. the pump and the boiler. An example pro- improve the system would be to add a timer The main purpose for the MIAC is industrial gram — Heating System.fcf — is included in functionality to allow the temperatures to applications. Hence it makes use of voltages the download from [1]. vary, for example drop slightly during the of 12 volts instead of the 5 volts normally As the water from the boiler output starts night. applied in PIC microcontroller systems. to heat up, the thermostatic mixing valve The file MIAC_Underfloor_v1.1.fcf, found in does its work and starts to mix the cold the download 100871-11.zip on [1], con- Practical application... water from the output of the PEX loops with tains the latest version of the author’s ther- In this article we demonstrate how we can the hot water from the boiler. We can mon- mostatic heating controller program for replicate an expensive underfloor home itor the temperature of the water running the MIAC. It has lots of functions and allows heating system at a fraction of the normal through the PEX loops by reading thermis- you to save up to 40 programmable events, costs. This heating system consists of a few tor t3. When this temperature has reached directly control the system, it has fill and major key elements: the required level, we can shut off the boiler drain modes, temperature settings for each and we can also shut off the pump. zone, back-off temperature settings and a • a boiler Every so often we can activate the pump for lot of other bits and pieces. The green menu • electronic valves a bit to circulate the water and ensure that button accesses the main menu that allows • a thermostatic mixing valve it is still up to temperature. you to set up the device. • a central heating pump Please note that the RCD is an essential part The author decided to simply use thermis- • an air release valve of the system, as it could make the differ- tors for each zone for now rather than cre- • PEX underfloor piping ence between a nasty shock and death if ate a CAN network of sensor nodes mainly • an AC power residual current device you were to come into contact with a live because of time limitations on the project. (RCD) cable. The thermistors he used (Rapid # 61-0410) • temperature sensors With reference to the existing boiler and are simply connected between 12 V and the • a MIAC thermostat, wiring should be implemented MIAC input terminal and the lookup table • compression fittings to assemble so that the room thermostat can still work provided in the file works to translate the manifold when the underfloor heating system is not readings to degrees centigrade. running. If a warm-water based system is not for ...and implementation The example program is very basic and sim- you, then the MIAC can also be used to Figure 1 shows a basic schematic of a two ply checks the return temperature t3. When directly drive electrical underfloor heating loop underfloor heating system. We let t3 drops below a threshold value, the tem- elements. The relay contacts are rated up the MIAC use a lookup table technique to peratures of t1 and t2 are read into the sys- to 1800 – 2000 W at AC grid voltage allow- read the temperature of thermistors t1 and tem. Depending on these temperatures the ing you to drive small through to large, 58 02-2011 elektor
  • 59. 61002 MIAC & FLOWCODE Elektor Products & Services - 3x MIAC and Flowcode 4 Bundle* * available at www.elektor.com/miac - MIAC, ready assembled* - USB A to B mini lead* ** accessible through - MIAC and Flowcode 4 Bundle* - Flowcode program: # 100871-11.zip** www.elektor.com/100871 high power heating mats. To do this, you would connect the Neutral and Ground sig- nals from the AC powerline to the heating mat. Then connect the Live from the AC grid through one of the MIAC relays to the Live from the heating mat. If you want full electrical separation when the mat is not in use, then you will have to use a second relay to connect and discon- nect the Neutral connection. Again an RCD should be used along with a great deal of precaution to avoid any injury caused by contact with AC powerline voltage. Electri- cal underfloor heating mats should also be placed on an insulated layer to avoid a high percentage of the heat escaping directly into the ground. Word of warning Please note that all electrical work will need to be inspected by a qualified electrician. Electrical regulations may differ from coun- try to country, so make sure you check your local legal requirements. Also the wattage Figure 1. Schematic diagram of a heating system using an Elektor MIAC as the controlling unit. quoted for the electrical heating mat is sub- ject to a 250 VAC system. The amperage on the relay outputs, the screw terminals and the PCB tracking of the MIAC is rated to 8 A. Therefore at 250 V the theoretical power is 250 V × 8 A = 2000 W. At 110 V the wattage drops to a theoretical maximum of 880 W. The author is in no ways a qualified plumber or a qualified electrician so got advice from qualified personnel when installing the sys- tem and then signed off the electrical and heating systems with approved profession- als. If you decide to do similar things using domestic AC grid voltages or plumbing sys- tems, then please ensure to get help and advice from qualified professionals in your area before you begin and again before you switch on or commission the system. Some pictures of the author’s installation work can be found on [2], where more infor- mation about MIAC and Flowcode is also available and help is on stand-by. (100871) Internet Links [1] www.elektor.com/100871 [2] www.matrixmultimedia.com/mmforums Figure 2. Using Flowcode for programming the MIAC is quite straightforward. elektor 02-2011 59
  • 60. 61002 MICROPROCESSORS Linux’ed Telephone-to-VoIP Adapter Quick Recipe: add PIC, SLIC, Asterisk, Linux, FXS. No telco bill. By Angelos Varvitsiotis (Greece) This open hardware & software project is a USB-connected interface that links a Voice-over-IP (VoIP) system to an analogue phone set or similar equipment like an analogue exchange. The powerhouse board works under Linux using the renowned Asterisk IP PBX software, and at a stroke enables you to use your home telephone set to connect to the VoIP world. Are you ready for some acronyms? Engi- scriber equipment like telephone sets, the world. Sometimes the FXS acronym is neers use them all the time and the tele- modems, and fax machines. In other words, also rendered as Foreign eXchange System. phony/telecomms industry has plenty! an FXS interface points to the subscriber. Like: an FXS (Foreign eXchange Subscriber) An FXS interface provides the following pri- Now, an FXO (Foreign eXchange Office) interface (the plug on the wall) delivers mary services to a subscriber device: dial interface (the plug on the phone) receives POTS (plain old telephone service/system) tone, battery current and ring voltage. Note POTS, typically from a CO of the PSTN (Pub- from the local phone company’s CO (Cen- that all three services come with different lic Switched Telephone Network). In other tral Office) and must be connected to sub- values and parameters in countries around words, an FXO interface points to the Telco Elektor Products & Services • PIC18F2550-I/SO, programmed: • Hyperlinks in article • PCB, bare: # 100761-1 # 100761-41 Items accessible through • PCB artwork: # 100761-1.pdf • Source code: # 100761-11.zip www.elektor.com/100761 60 02-2011 elektor
  • 61. 61002 MICROPROCESSORS FXO FXS Wall-plate Port Port office. An FXO interface provides just one POTS Circuit primary service to the Telco network device: Jack on-hook/off-hook indication (loop closure). As illustrated in Figure 1, a telecommunica- Subscriber tions line from an FXO port must connect to an FXS port in order for the connection Telco Central Office 100761 - 11 to work. Similarly, a line from an FXS port must connect to an FXO port in order for the connection to work. When the FXO port on Figure 1. With the arrival of VoIP this is all history but you may appreciate a bit of remedial teaching on basic telephony and the quirky acronyms used. your analogue telephone is connected to the FXS port in the wall, you receive FXS ser- vice from the Telco — and assuming your bill is paid, you hear a dial tone when you pick scriber line; the chip uses two digital buses to com- up the phone. Note the arrows in Figure 1, • the actual subscriber line; municate to the (digital) world: a PCM bus they illustrate the pointing. • the analogue-to-digital and digital-to- and an SPI bus. Both are controlled by a analogue conversion (PCM codec). PIC18F2550 microcontroller running some If you connect an FXS device to another clever firmware. FXS device, the connection will not work. The SLIC is complemented by an analogue The parts marked with an asterisk (*) have Likewise, if you connect an FXO device to line driver type Si3201, again from SiLabs. values optimised for a phone line length of another FXO it will not work either. So, for The circuit also comprises the DC-DC con- up to 2,000 feet (approx. 700 m) and a ring example, you can not plug a standard ana- verter analogue circuitry, consisting mainly voltage of 45 Vrms. logue telephone (FXO) directly into a stand- of D1, L1, Q7 and Q8 plus surrounding com- ard analogue telephone (FXO) and talk ponents. The converter is driven by a PWM The PIC (ticking at 20 MHz) and its firmware phone-to-phone. signal from the 3210’s DCDRV output. accomplish a large number of tasks: pack- That’s FAB (full acknowledgement of broad- Besides the analogue telephony interface, ing PCM 1-ms audio samples into USB pack- cast, tnx Thunderbirds) but with the arrival of VoIP (voice over internet protocol) we don’t need the Telco anymore and that begs the question: can I connect an ana- How 2 make it come alive logue phone (system) to VoIP? The answer There are plenty of reasons why an otherwise perfect board would not work at first try. is: YES (yes, exquisitely so) using Linux and The first step in giving life to the board is to bring up the bootloader, as explained in the a dedicated converter designed for use on blog at [5b]. the USB (universal serial bus). This is done by switching on S1b (i.e. the DIP switch closest to the USB plug) in order to in- voke the bootloader and enable the use of a USB bootload utility like PICDEM or fsusb (the The circuit The schematic of the adapter is shown in latter on Linux) to load the firmware. Figure 2 — this should be a treat for all fans However, this applies to a pre-programmed PIC. In the case of a fresh, empty PIC, you first of microcontrollers, embedded applications need to flash the bootloader firmware from here: and open source platforms including Linux. http://openusbfxs.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/PIC18FSource/Bootloader-FXSMOD/boot- The analogue phone is connected to J1 loader.hex and the PC’s USB port to… ‘USB’! Simple as that, the Linux environment on the PC and using a PIC programmer that will do In-Circuit-Serial-Programming (ICSP). Once the boot- the firmware running inside the PIC do all loader has been flashed, you need to switch S1b and plug the board into a USB in order to the work and you can start phoning for free invoke the bootloader. using your trusted analogue phone. The final step is to use PICDEM-FS or fsusb to load the actual adapter firmware pulled At the heart of the circuit is a Silicon Labs from [8]. Si3210 microcontroller [1] in its default application circuit. This chip, also called a Flashing just the FXS firmware without the bootloader will cause the board to fail to work. SLIC (subscriber line integrated circuit), con- This is because the bootloader firmware takes care of jumping into the right places within trols the telephony-related functions of the the FXS firmware during reset and interrupt sequences. Obviously, if the bootloader is not board, namely: installed, this is not going to work. Other than that, please check the author’s blog page for more hints and advice in the rare • a DC-DC converter that generates the case that your adapter does not work straight off. necessary voltage to drive the sub- elektor 02-2011 61
  • 62. 61002 MICROPROCESSORS +5V +5V L2 BLM18AG601SN1 +5V C31 C30 CDC1 CDC2 10u 6V 100n 100u 100n 10V 25V RCLR RUSR 10k 10k C15 C16 C17 20 RDTX 100n 100n 100n VDD JLVP 4k7 10 27 30 1 R1 VDDA1 VDDA2 VDDD MCLR/VPP/RE3 15 3 5% 6 11 RPGM 200k STIPDC PCLK RA4/T0CKI/C1OUT/RCV RC0/T1OSO/T13CKI 1% 4 5 12 10k C3 R8 DRX RA3/AN3/VREF+ RC1/T1OSI/CCP2/UOE 20 5 4 25 K1 470R STIPAC DTX RA2/AN2/VREF-/CVREF RB4/AN11/KBI0 220n 1% 6 3 26 1 2 FSYNC RA1/AN1 RB5/KBI1/PGM C24 100V 7 2 IC3 27 3 4 RESET RA0/AN0 RB6/KBI2/PGC 36 21 28 5 6 +5V C18 C19 SDO RB0/AN12/INT0/FLT0/SDI/SDA RB7/KBI3/PGD 100n 38 22 23 USB 8 7 SCLK RB1/AN10/INT1/SCK RB2/AN8/INT2/VMO L3 VDD GND 4u7 6V 4u7 6V 1 24 14 1 IC1 CS RB3/AN9/CCP2/VPO VUSB VBUS BLM18AG601SN1 1 15 29 2 13 15 2 J1 TIP ITIPN ITIPN INT RC2/CCP1 PIC18F2550-I/SO RC4/D-/VM D– 1 C105 C5 13 25 37 18 16 3 IRINGN IRINGN SDI RC7/RX/DT/SDO RC5/D+/VP D+ 2 16 28 24 R32 7 17 4 IC2 ITIPP ITIPP IGMP RA5/AN4/SS/HLVIN//C2OUT RC6/TX/CK CUSB GND 3 680p 100V 22n 100V 14 26 R15 10k IRINGP IRINGP 4 243R R2 VSS OSC1 OSC2 VSS 220n 5 C106 C6 11 17 10% STIPE 196k STIPE RL1 8 9 10 19 6 22 1% 4 3 RJ45 SI3201 R4 1% IGMN X1 330R 680p 100V 22n 100V 3 10 19 11 +5V ON RING SRINGE 196k SRINGE IREF S1 BLM18AG601SN1 R7 R6 1% 12 VBATH VBAT CAPP R14 L4 14 4k02 4k02 5 4 CAPM LD1 CO2 20MHz CO1 1 2 40k2 1% 1% SI3210-FT(LP) C1 C2 R5 1 2 18 22p 22p 200k SVBAT 1% 13 10u 6V 10u 6V C4 R9 1% QGND 100761 - 12 21 32 470R SRINGAC TEST 23 220n R3 1% GNDA 100V 16 31 200k SRINGDC GNDD 1% SDCL SDCH DCDRV DCFF +5V MMBT2222A 9 8 34 33 R28 37k4 * Q9 R20 R19 1% C10 +5V R29 450k 18k 18k * 1% 1% 1% R16 100n 50V F1 R21 200R 15R 5% D1 5% ES1D 750mA R18A C26 C9 * 0R82 Q8 R18B 5% Q7 100n 100V 10u 0R82 100V FZT953 MMBT2222A R17 C25 5% L1 * C14 Tant 450R * 100uH 100n 25V 10u 1A 5% 25V Figure 2. The core of the circuit is a SLIC (subscriber line integrated circuit) from SiLabs while most of the intelligence resides in the PIC18F2550 microcontroller. ets (and vice versa), driving the 3210’s PCM got designed for the adapter and best of shown in Figure 4. Choke L1 is very conspic- bus clock, transmitting and receiving isoch- all it’s available ready-made from Elektor uous on the board with its two large solder ronous data over USB, keeping the PCM bus (# 100761-1) and the same goes for the pads. time in synchronism with the USB bus ‘tick- programmed PIC (# 100761-41). Figure 3 ing’ and, finally, managing all other generic shows the board stuffing plans for the top As a tip-off, SiLabs operate a sampling ser- functions required for USB communication. and bottom sides. The board is brimful of vice for their ICs. Our ICs however were While the SiLabs ICs are seen in a more SMD parts at both sides, including the three obtained through Mouser with a little help or less standard constellation following integrated circuits so assembly might not from CJ and Valerie at our sister magazine the manufacturer’s datasheets and ref- be too easy if you’ve never worked with Circuit Cellar based in Vernon, CT. erence circuits, the originality of the cir- these tiny devices before. The Si3210 is cuit of course resides in the PIC firmware, troublesome with its extremely fine pitch Firmware which manages all the above functions in leads, which may push your limits in terms The PIC firmware may be downloaded free real time, and thus obviates the need for of accuracy and power of sight. from the Elektor website [2] and is upgrada- an expensive FPGA device (sooo corny now ble over USB, using a Microchip-supplied in telephony designs) and keeps the whole All fears aside, the prototype was success- tool called PICDEM [3]. This function is cost very low. Pinheader array K1 is the PIC fully built by Jan Visser of Elektor Labs using accomplished by DIP switch S1(b), which ICSP (in-circuit programming) connector. manual soldering throughout at both sides controls whether the board boots in boot- of the board and the ‘solder braid trick’ to loader or normal mode. Firmware upgrades Construction – yes you can, too separate the Si3210 pins electrically after can also be performed by a utility program. All Linux fans should want to build this, mass-soldering. FYI Jan is spectacled and The other DIP switch, S1(a) resets the PIC, it so a nice compact board (60 × 30 mm) at the safe side of 50, but just. The result is should be kept in the OFF position. 62 02-2011 elektor
  • 63. 61002 MICROPROCESSORS COMPONENT LIST C3,C4= 220nF 100V, shape 1812 Mouser # 634-SI3210-GT Resistors C5,C6= 22nF 100V, shape 1812 IC2 = Si3201-FS/GS (ESOIC-16T), SiLabs, Mous- (default: SMD 0805) C9 = 10μF 100V radial er # 634-SI3201-GS R1,R3,R5 = 200kΩ C10,C14,C26 = 100nF 100V, shape 1210 IC3 = PIC18F2550-I/SO, programmed, Elektor R2,R4 = 196kΩ C15,C16,C17,C24,C30= 100nF, shape 0603 # 100761-41, see [2] R6,R7 = 4.02kΩ C18,C19 = 4.7μF 6V LD1 = LED, green (1206 CHIPLED) R8,R9 = 470Ω C25 = 10μF 25V tantalum bead Q7 = FZT953 (SOT230P700X160-4N) R14 = 40.2kΩ C105,106 = 680pF 100V Q8,Q9 = MMBT2222A (SOT95P280X13-3N) R15 = 243Ω CDC1 = 100μF 10V radial R16 = 200Ω CDC2 = 100nF 25V Miscellaneous R17 = 453Ω* CO1,CO2 = 22pF F1 = fuse, 0.75A, shape 1210 R18A,R18B = 0.82Ω*, shape 1206 CUSB = 220nF J1 = RJ-11/12 socket, PCB mount R19,R20 = 18kΩ JLVP = jumper or temporary wire link R21 = 15Ω, shape 1206 Inductors K1 = 6-pin (2x3) pinheader block, 0.1’’ R28 = 37.4kΩ L1 = 100μH 1A, SMD S1 = 2-way DIP switch, SMD R29 = 453kΩ* L2,L3,L4 = 150μH 1A, SMD, type BLM18AG- U1 = USB-A-H socket R32,RCLR, RPGM, RUSR = 10kΩ 601SN1, 0603 shape X1 = 20MHz quartz crystal RL1 = 330Ω, shape 1206 PCB, Elektor # 100761-1, see [2] Semiconductors Capacitors (all SMD) * for phone cable length up to 2,000 ft. and (default: SMD 1206) D1 = ES1D (SMB) V(ring) = 45 Vrms. C1,C2,C31 = 10μF 6V IC1 = Si3210-FT/GT (TSSOP38-LP), SiLabs, R16 version: 2.1d Q8 R17 6 C4 C3 R18B R18A R19 R21 JLVP R29 C9 D1 Q7 C14 F1 RUSR CDC2 C25 1 K1 C30 C5 RL1 C6 C18 C19 C26 C10 C17 Q9 L4 RPGM R28 C16 R8 L3 L2 C15 C31 R9 U1 L1 J1 IC1 IC3 R15 C106 C105 R20 R7 LD1 R4 R5 IC2 R14 C2 C1 R1 R6 CO2 CO1 S1 RDTX RCLR 2 CUSB R2 CDC1 ON X1 1 C24 Open USB FXS R3(C)2010 A.Varvitsiotis R32 Figure 3. Component mounting plan of the VoIP adapter board. The bare board is available from Elektor. Linux driver and Asterisk the open-source Asterisk IP PBX system. compiled and loaded into the Linux ker- The board is accessible via a Linux device Extensive instructions on how to build the nel, the system recognises the USB FXS driver. The author has chosen to integrate driver and integrate the board into a Linux as soon as it is plugged. The verbosity of the board with the Dahdi [4] device driver system can be found in the author’s blog [5]. debug messages is tuneable: while terse by family, so that the board can be used under When the ‘oufxs’ device driver module is default, with the ‘debuglevel’ parameter set Figure 4. A close look at both sides of the board. Check your soldering against this! elektor 02-2011 63
  • 64. 61002 MICROPROCESSORS to 4, the driver displays in detail all its Listening to one’s voice may be steps while initializing the board (Fig- a great tool for debugging, but it ure 5). By now, you have a new Dahdi is not of much use, is it? So what device, that you can see and manage about placing your first free inter- with utilities like dahdi_scan. national VoIP call using IAX (the Inter-Asterisk-eXchange proto- The next step is to configure the col)? Hang up, then pick up the device’s signalling, i.e. the electri- phone again and dial 500. This cal method by which the system will route a VoIP call to Digium’s tells the subscriber that the line has demo IAX server in the United become available, or that the other States (Figure 6). Digium are the party has hung up. While a phone people behind Asterisk. You will set does not care much about these, hear a ring tone, and then Digi- analogue exchanges do, so Dahdi um’s own Asterisk system answers support various signalling meth- the call (beware: this is a real VoIP ods. The author uses ‘fxols’ signal- PBX, and if you dial an extension, ling, which stands for ‘Loop-Start’. you will probably reach a Digium To do this, the ‘/etc/system/dahdi. Figure 5. The Linux ‘oufxs’ driver sees a board plugged and employee). conf’ file must be created or edited takes action. and a line reading ‘fxols=1’ must be added at the end. If you would like An open project to change the default ring and dial tones an ‘echo’ application. You can then speak on All the parts of the design, including the as well, that’s the place to do it, by select- the phone and listen back to your own voice schematic and PCB design files in Cad- ing a ‘tonezone’ other than the default ‘us’. with a few tens of milliseconds delay. soft Eagle format [6], the firmware [7] and You can also add an echo canceller the Linux driver software are e.g. by adding the following line open-source, meaning the work ‘echocanceller=oslec,1’. Finally, the is licensed under the GNU Public ‘dahdi_cfg’ utility must be run. Licence (code) and Creative Com- mons licenses (PCB, documenta- You are now ready to start with tion, etc.). The source code can Asterisk. Follow the author’s instruc- also be found at [8]. All Elektor tions for setting up and configuring readers are invited to improve Asterisk [9], then start Asterisk in and extend the software to their debug console mode (‘e.g. asterisk heart’s content and let the Editor, –vvvvvvc’). Pick up the phone; Aster- the author and members of the isk should note an off-hook event, community know by way of the and you should be listening to a dial Elektor forum (main topic: Micro- tone. Then, dial ‘600’ (and wait a bit controllers & Embedded). for an inter-digit timeout); Asterisk Figure 6. Displaying the dialplan and logging a call from (100761) will log a console message and start Asterisk’s console. Internet Links releases/dahdi-linux-2.3.0.1.tar.gz [1] www.silabs.com/Support%20Documents/TechnicalDocs/si3210. [5] (a) http://openusbfxs.wordpress.com/ and (b) http://openusbfxs. pdf wordpress.com/dyi-setup-and-debugging-guide/ [2] www.elektor.com/100761 [6] http://code.google.com/p/openusbfxs/source/browse/#svn/ trunk/Eagle-OPENUSBFXS-Dongle [3] Microchip PICDEM FS: www.microchip.com/Microchip.WWW. SecureSoftwareList/secsoftwaredownload.aspx?device=en021 [7] http://code.google.com/p/openusbfxs/source/browse/#svn/ 940&lang=en&ReturnURL=http://www.microchip.com/stellent/ trunk/PIC18FSource/OPENUSBFXS-FMWR idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=1406&dDocName=e [8] http://code.google.com/p/openusbfxs/source/browse/#svn/ n021940&part=DM163025# trunk/LinuxDahdiDriver [4] http://downloads.asterisk.org/pub/telephony/dahdi-linux/ [9] http://openusbfxs.wordpress.com/getting-started-with-asterisk/ 64 02-2011 elektor
  • 65. 61002 READERS‘ PROJECTS AlphaLED Shaker Magic message machine By Kurt Schuster (Germany) Give the board a shake, and letters fall out? Not quite: but you can make your favourite message appear as if suspended in thin air. The basic principle will be familiar: as a row the pushbuttons to enter messages having The basic ingredients, comprising a few LEDs of LEDs is moved from side to side, the LEDs ‘definite potential’. That the device might and a microcontroller, were easy enough to are driven in such a way as to exploit the also encourage younger children to learn find and solder together. Harder to solve was persistence of human vision and create the the alphabet through play he saw more as the problem of finding a suitably sensitive illusion of letters, symbols and other graph- a side-effect. The graphic designer also saw shake sensor without having to resort to a ics floating in mid-air. This Reader’s Project potential in the unit, and had the witty idea fully-featured accelerometer. Two homebrew is a new twist on that idea: the board carry- of mounting one on the side of a cocktail attempts, one using a steel ball and the other ing the row of LEDs is moved by hand rather shaker to display an advertising message. using a magnet in a tube with switches (both than being driven by a motor. We use a fairly Children, especially older children who have mechanical and reed-contact) at either end, sophisticated motion detection system to already learned to read, quickly got the hang were not really up to the job. Several commer- let us synchronise the display of text with of using the buttons and shaking the device cial tilt switches were tested, and the readily- the movement of the unit, and the text can to create their own messages. The ease with available (from Farnell or Conrad Electronics) scroll to allow longer messages to be dis- which the text could be read at a distance Assemtech CW1300-1 was found to work well. played. As a bonus, it is possible to edit up was mentioned as a particularly good fea- Surprisingly, taking the sensor apart reveals to four short messages ‘on the fly’. ture, and they were inspired to make the two apparently gold-plated balls, one small board into a toy by decorating it with colour- and one large. The smaller one bridges the con- Shaken, not stirred ful characters and animals. Calling all Elektor tacts, while the larger one presumably ensures The author persuaded some friends of readers with a sideline in toy design... that contact is made with sufficient pressure. his to try out the device: an occupational The software was written in AVR assembler therapist, a graphic artist in the adver- Sensor and sensitivity and was, at least initially, kept very simple. tising industry, and a gaggle of children. In principle the moving-LED idea could be A fixed text graphic was read from mem- Impressions were positive: the occupa- applied to a yo-yo, with the text of a mes- ory and output sequentially to the LEDs tional therapist thought it would be a good sage being spelt out as the yo-yo goes up when the ball in the (home-made) sensor way to motivate his patients, particularly and down. However, the motion of a yo-yo pressed one of the two switches. To get a the younger ones, with the combination proved too slow to produce a satisfactorily stable display it proved necessary to com- of the larger-scale shaking moves and the stable visual effect, and hence we settled on pensate for the inertia of the sensor using a delicate motor skills required to operate the letter shaker approach. variable delay in the code to synchronise the Note. Readers’ Projects are reproduced based on information supplied by the author(s) only. Readers projects have not passed Elektor Labs for replication to verify claimed operation. elektor 02-2011 65
  • 66. 61002 READERS‘ PROJECTS 4 S0 ON * 1 VCC 1 3 2 2 R10 LED0 LED1 LED2 LED3 LED4 LED5 LED6 LED7 C6 C4 470k R0 R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 47u 6V 100n JP2 * * * * * * * * * 20 RST VCC S 1 PA2(RESET/DW) R8 IC1 12 VCC C5 (AIN0/PCINT0)PB0 CW1300-1 2 13 4k7 PD0(RXD) (AIN1/PCINT1)PB1 9 7 5 3 1 100n 3 6 PD1(TXD) (OC0A/PCINT2)PB2 14 15 * JP1 PD2(CKOUT/XCK/INT) (OC1A/PCINT3)PB3 ISP 7 16 CR2032 PD3(INT1) (OC1B/PCINT4)PB4 10 8 6 4 2 8 17 MOSI GND PD4(T0) (MOSI/DI/SDA/PCINT5)PB5 VCC 9 18 MISO PD5(OC0B/T1) (MISO/DO/PCINT6)PB6 11 19 SCK PD6(ICP) (UCSK/SCL/PCINT7)PB7 ATTINY2313-20 PA1(XTAL2) PA0(XTAL1) GND 4 5 10 Q1 * K1 C1 K2 C2 K3 * C3 * * C7 4MHz C8 100n 100n 100n 22p 22p 090337 - 11 Figure 1. A tilt switch controls the drive timing of a row of LEDs via an ATtiny microcontroller. The key to the circuit is in the software. LED data output. It was particularly tricky switch (S0) on the printed circuit board them to fit. Alternatively, rectangular LEDs to arrange things so that the message did (Figure 2) is used to turn the device on and can be used. The value of the series resis- not appear in two different positions as the off; the two-pole version would also be tor depends on the LED colour: 47 Ω is suit- device was moved to and fro, reducing the suitable. Power is provided by a 3 V type able for red LEDs, 27 Ω for green, 22 Ω for overall perceived brightness. As the pro- CR2032 button cell, and of course observ- white and 10 Ω for blue. Since the blue LEDs gram was developed more and more func- ing correct polarity is essential when sol- in particular are being driven at 3 V, below tions were added, with the bulk of the (thor- dering its holder (type SMTU-2032-1). The their rated voltage, it is recommended to oughly commented) code [1] concerning the best LEDs to use are high brightness 3 mm select devices manually for uniformity of user interface, control logic, character sets, types with a wide viewing angle; these are brightness. It is also a good idea to do this message scrolling, LED drive and polling the connected to the microcontroller outputs for green and white LEDs, but it is less criti- control buttons. Shake detection is done PB0 to PB7. To make the resulting display cal for red LEDs. The tilt switch is mounted under interrupts. Sensor inertia compensa- as pleasingly solid as possible, the LEDs are horizontally, soldered to the pins of JP2 (see tion accounts for very few lines of code, but mounted tight up against one another and Figure 3). The ISP connector on the board a disproportionately large amount of know- round LEDs may need a bit of filing to get (JP1) need not be fitted, and the relevant how, including a detailed analysis of the shake movement using an ADXL320 acceler- ometer. It was only armed with this knowl- K2 K1 K3 R0 3 3 3 1 1 1 LED0 2 edge that we could make the final version of R1 ON LED1 1 the device work with just a tilt switch. R2 S0 LED2 4 2 4 2 4 2 R8 R3 LED3 C2 C1 C3 JP2 R4 Circuit and construction LED4 LED5 R10 C5 R5 The tilt switch is connected across the LED6 R6 C8 R7 pins of JP2 (see the circuit diagram in Fig- SMTU-2032-1 LED7 IC1 CR2032 - ure 1). It is debounced by R8, R10 and + C6 Q1 C7 C5 and then taken to port pin PD2 of the ATtiny microcontroller. Two miniature but- JP1 C4 tons (K1 and K2) connected to PD5 and PD8 provide the user controls for entering text. K3 is not used in the current version Figure 2. The double-sided printed circuit board mainly uses SMDs that can be soldered of the software, and so is not fitted. A DIP by hand. 66 02-2011 elektor
  • 67. 61002 READERS‘ PROJECTS Users’ guide Switching on hard-programmed in, while messages 2 to 4 follows: - Set S0 to the ON position. can be changed at will by the user. If a mes- sage is not programmed the letter ‘E’ (for - LED7: programming mode for the capital Displaying a message ‘empty’) will be displayed. letters ‘A’ to ‘Z’ and the space character (the - Hold the board so that LED 0 is at the top. space character is displayed as a rectangle Then quickly but regularly shake the unit to Programming a message (double LED during programming); and fro. flashes) - LED6: programming mode for the lower- - Select message 2, 3 or 4 according to the case letters ‘a’ to ‘z’ and the space character; Selecting a message (single LED flashes) instructions above. - LED5: programming mode for the digits - Hold the board still, and LED 7 will continu- - Hold down K1 and K2 simultaneously ‘0’ to ‘9’ and the space character; ously emit single flashes. until the LED flickers and then release the - LED4: programming mode for symbols, - Hold down button K2 until LED 7 flickers, buttons. LED7 will now continuously emit accented characters, punctuation and the and then release the button. LED 6 will then double flashes which means that the unit space character; start to emit single flashes continuously, and is ready to be programmed with a capital - LED3: erase functions B (‘backspace’, de- message 2 is ready for display. letter. letes the most recently entered character) - Hold down button K2 until LED 6 flickers, - Shake the board, and the currently select- and C (‘clear’, deletes the entire message). and then release the button. LED 5 will then ed letter (‘A’ initially) will be displayed. To execute the erase function, hold down start to emit single flashes continuously, and - Repeatedly press button K1 or K2 brief- K1 until LED3 flickers. message 3 is ready for display. ly. This changes the selected letter forwards - Hold down button K2 until LED 5 flickers, or backwards through the sequence ‘A’, Leaving programming mode and then release the button. LED 4 will then ‘B’, ‘C’, and so on to ‘Z’. To program the - Hold down buttons K1 and K2 simul- start to emit single flashes continuously, and selected letter, hold down K1 until the LED taneously until the LED flashes, and then message 4 is ready for display. flickers. To switch between programming release both buttons. The most recently se- modes, hold down K2 until the LED flickers. lected (or edited) message will be displayed. Four messages are available. Message 1 is The programming modes are indicated as connections are made by tracks on the sages, messages 2, 3 and 4 can be edited sage directly into the EEPROM of the ATtiny circuit board. If the ATtiny2313 is only to using the buttons; message # 1, however, is microcontroller using a programmer. be programmed after it is soldered to the hard-programmed into the device and can- (090337) board, the four tracks joining the header not normally be changed or erased. There is, pads need to be cut and a 2mm pitch header however, a special way to change this mes- [1] http://www.elektor.com/090337 (includes soldered on. After programming the broken sage: in quick succession press K2, K2, K2, software download) connections must be restored: this can be K1, K1 and then K2. LED7 will then flicker done by plugging a suitably-wired socket to briefly to confirm that the special mode has the programming connector. been entered, and message 1 can now be About the author The resistors are all 0805 SMD types, as edited. To protect the message once more, Kurt Schuster is a self-employed electron- are all the capacitors with the exception of use the same magic button sequence. It ics engineer and software developer. C6 (a 47 μF 6 V electrolytic, radial, 2.5 mm is also possible, of course, to enter a mes- pitch). Soldering the microcontroller in its SOIC package requires a fine bit and a little confidence in SMD work. Pin 1 of the micro- controller is indicated by a small dot on the printed circuit board. With a little skill with the soldering iron the SMD crystal can be replaced by a wired device or by a ceramic resonator. If a resonator is used capacitors C7 and C8 should be removed, and the mid- dle contact of the resonator should be con- nected to the ground via near C7 and C8 (see Figure 3). It is a good idea to fit the microcontroller before the crystal as other- wise the room left for soldering is a bit tight. Figure 3. The top side of the printed circuit Figure 4. The underside of the printed board, with horizontally-mounted tilt circuit board, with the button cell, Programming and operation switch and 4 MHz ceramic resonator. smoothing capacitor, on-off switch and the The text box gives an overview of how to two buttons that are used to operate the operate the device. Of the four stored mes- device and enter messages. elektor 02-2011 67
  • 68. 61002 USB IDs How to Get Your Own USB ID Options and costs By Harry Baggen (Elektor Netherlands Editorial) Every device with a USB interface needs to have a set of ID numbers that enable it to register with a host (computer or other equipment) so the host can take the appropriate action. Is it also necessary to have these ID numbers for devices you develop yourself, and if so, how can you get your own ID numbers for your products? Here we report on the results of a brief survey. Nowadays you find products with USB interfaces just about every- in USB numbers and added a corresponding clause to the regula- where, ranging from practical devices such as external USB hard tions. However, there is one company that still does this (MCS Elec; disks to frivolous gadgets such as USB coffee mug heaters. Every see [2]), based on the stance that the rules were amended after it USB device that you connect to a computer (known in USB ter- bought its VID. minology as a host) uses two ID codes to register with the com- If you use Atmel microcontrollers, there is also another option. If puter: a vendor ID (VID) and a product ID (PID), each of which is a you use the V-USB driver [3], you receive a VID/PID set free of charge 16-bit number (for example, 0x0424 and 0x0531). From this set of if you agree to adhere to the conditions of the GNU general public ID codes, the operating system of the PC determines what sort of licence (GPL) governing the V-USB project. If you do not wish to device is connected, what designation should be assigned to it, and release the software you develop, as required by the terms of the what driver should be used for it. GPL, you can also purchase one or more VID/PID sets. For hobby use, These numbers are administered by the USB Implementers Forum each set costs about £/€ 10. (USB IF [1]), an organisation that was founded by various computer What about the situation where you develop a device with a USB companies and ensures that manufacturers of USB devices comply interface IC in its circuit? Usually the IC manufacturer has its own with the formulated USB standards. VID and assigns a separate PID to each individual product with a USB interface. You can then use these products to develop prototypes Buying your own VID of devices or circuits. If you develop a device with a USB port and you want to market it The next question is: what if you wish to make products on a mod- commercially, you can request your own VID from the USB IF. There est scale? We found two manufacturers who are willing to do a bit are several options, although they are actually oriented toward more for their customers in this regard. Microchip has a large num- mass production and not intended for devices such as prototypes. ber of PICs with integrated USB interfaces in its product line. On the Briefly, the options are: Microchip website you can find a document [4] that you can use to apply for a sublicence. With this sublicence, you receive the Micro- • Become a member of the USB IF (membership fee: US$ 4000 chip VID and your own PID, which you can use for your product. This per year). You will be assigned a VID at no additional cost. • Purchase a USB logo licence (fee: US$ 2000). This licence is good for two years. • Purchase a VID alone (fee: US$ 2000). With this option, you are not allowed to show the USB logo on your products. Once you have been assigned a VID, you receive a large block of PID numbers that you may assign as you see fit. The number of PIDs is large enough (around 65,000) that manufacturers of USB prod- ucts don’t have to worry about using them up too quickly. Only one number is necessary for each product type or model, so each individual product does not need to be assigned a separate number. Prototypes and small-scale production What can you do if you want to use your own VID and PID for a single prototype or small volume of products? You probably don’t wish to spend a large amount of money for this. In the past, there were a few companies that bought their own VIDs and then sold small blocks of PIDs to people who wanted to use them for their prototypes and their own products, but the USB IF disapproved of this arrangement. Some time ago it prohibited this form of trading Figure 1. The USB Implementers Forum administers all vendor IDs. 68 02-2011 elektor
  • 69. 61002 Advertisement INDEX OF ADVERTISERS Astrobe, Showcase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.astrobe.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Atomic Programming Ltd, Showcase . . . .www.atomicprogramming.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Avit Research, Showcase. . . . . . . . . . . . .www.avitresearch.co.uk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Beta Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.pcb-pool.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Black Robotics, Showcase . . . . . . . . . . . .www.blackrobotics.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 CEDA, Showcase. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.ceda.in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Designer Systems, Showcase . . . . . . . . .www.designersystems.co.uk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Easysync, Showcase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.easysync.co.uk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Elnec, Showcase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.elnec.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Embedded Adventures, Showcase . . . . . .www.embeddedadventures.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 is handy if you want to manufacture products on a small scale. In Eurocircuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.eurocircuits.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 this regard, the only condition imposed by Microchip is that the pro- duction volume must not exceed 10,000 units. As far as we know, EzPCB/Beijing Draco Electronics Ltd. . . . .www.v-module.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 there are no other costs associated with this, although Microchip First Technology Transfer Ltd, Showcase .www.ftt.co.uk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 naturally makes money on the ICs you buy from them. FTDI is a semiconductor manufacturer that has become very well FlexiPanel Ltd, Showcase . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.flexipanel.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 known for its USB interface ICs, which make it very easy to provide a USB connection for a device with a serial interface. FTDI also sup- Future Technology Devices, Showcase . . .www.ftdichip.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 plies RS232 connectors with integrated USB ICs, and of course vari- Hameg, Showcase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.hameg.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 ous types of adapter cables, such as USB to TTL). On FTDI’s website you can find a PDF document [5] that clearly explains which VIDs HexWax Ltd, Showcase . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.hexwax.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 and PIDs are used by FTDI and what options are available to users of FTDI ICs. Here again, it is possible to apply for a unique block of Labcenter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.labcenter.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 product IDs for use in prototypes and small-scale production, with no specific quantities mentioned. Linear Audio, Showcase. . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.linearaudio.net. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 With other manufacturers that also have a lot of ICs with USB inter- MikroElektronika. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.mikroe.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 faces in their product lines, such as Atmel, Analog Devices, Freescale and TI, we were unfortunately not able to find any option for apply- MQP Electronics, Showcase. . . . . . . . . . .www.mqp.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 ing for your own block of PIDs. With these products, the VID/PID pairs programmed into the ICs can only be used for circuit devel- NXP Contest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.circuitcellar.com/nxpmbeddesignchallenge . . 31 opment. In most of the documentation, it is simply noted that you NXP Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.nxp.com/microcontrollers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 need a separate VID/PID set for each product you develop, with a recommendation to contact the USB IF or visit their website. Per- Pico. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.picotech.com/scope2034 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 haps these companies could take a cue from Microchip and FTDI to make things a bit easier for users who manufacture products on a Quasar Electronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.quasarelectronics.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 modest scale (as long as the USB IF doesn’t decide to prohibit this sort of arrangement). Relchron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.proto-pic.co.uk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Robot Electronics, Showcase . . . . . . . . . .www.robot-electronics.co.uk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 If you are curious about the VIDs assigned to all sorts of manufac- turers, you can visit the website at [6] to view a list. Robotiq, Showcase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.robotiq.co.uk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 (100718-I) Showcase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78, 79 Internet Links Steorn SKDB Lite, Showcase . . . . . . . . . .www.kdb.steorn.com/ref25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 [1] www.usb.org/home Virtins Technology, Showcase . . . . . . . . .www.virtins.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 [2] www.mcselec.com (look in the shop under Hardware/USB) [3] www.obdev.at/products/vusb/license.html [4] ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/AppNotes/Application%20 Advertising space for the issue 15 March 2011 for%20USB%20Vendor%20ID%20Sublicense.pdf may be reserved not later than 15 February 2011 [5] www.ftdichip.com/Support/Documents/TechnicalNotes/ with Elektor International Media - Allee 1, 6141 AV Limbricht, the Netherlands Telephone 0031 (0) 46 4389444 - Fax 0031 (0) 46 4370161 - TN_100_USB_VID-PID_Guidelines.pdf e-mail: advertenties@elektor.com to whom all correspondence, copy instructions and artwork should be addressed. [6] www.linux-usb.org/usb.ids elektor 02-2011 69
  • 70. 61002 LINUX SMS GATEWAY TEXT Me! from 1, PC Junkyard An £0.00 SMS gateway centre using Linux and a recycled PC By Hans Henrik Skovgaard (Denmark) In this small project a discarded PC together with an old mobile phone will both be granted a second lease of life. With the ‘Damn-Small-Linux’ (DSL) variant running on the PC and the mobile phone attached, the basics of a small, totally free SMS gateway will be demonstrated. Fasten your seatbelts. If like me you refuse to throw away electronic assemblies that are RS232 — like in functional but ‘less fashionable’, you will most likely too have man- t h e N ovem b er aged to accumulate several old PCs and maybe a few old mobile 2008 article. Con- phones. Of course, you will have hidden your clunkers in an artful figuring Linux for manner from viewing by a house-proud partner. A veritable 2011 both cases will be Aladdin’s cave. described —actually After several years, some of my own such treasures were very close three ways to con- to reaching their final destination at the ‘recycling place’ (aka ‘Old- nect a mobile phone Silicon Heaven’). That was until I saw the “Remote control by Mobile to the Linux PC. Phone” article in Elektor’s November 2008 issue, where a mobile One final thing before phone got attached to a dedicated piece of hardware. However we continue: change since I’m currently into Damn Small Linux coding I wanted to con- the PC BIOS so it will nect a phone to a PC, run Linux and make something useful out of boot from the CD-ROM it all. It is now up to you to decide if this is clever, crafty or crazy, but drive. here I got DSL up and running, attached the mobile phone to the Damn Small Linux is a stripped down version of another Linux distri- PC, installed software and built the basics of my very own small SMS bution called Knoppix. It’s a free Linux distribution for the x86 fam- gateway. Here’s how you can do it, too. ily of personal computers and fits inside a 50 MB live CD. One of the reasons why DSL is so small is that instead of using KDE or GNOME as its desktop it employs one of the two ‘lightweight’ Installing DSL desktops that go by the names of ‘Fluxbox’ and ‘JWM’. This makes People already into Linux, in particular Damn Small Linux (DSL), will DSL an ideal choice to run on junked hardware and thereby bring possibly scoff at the level of detail in this article, but the aim is to back new life to it. You may choose to use another Linux distribution enable you to set up such a system all by yourself even if you’re where there will most likely be differences but nothing that can’t be new to Linux. managed. A link to the DSL home page can be found at [1]. In Table 1 you can see the hardware configuration used for this pro- At the time of writing there are two maintained versions of DSL: ject. The PC was originally a Dell Dimension XPS T600r but in good an older version called DSL-3.4.12 which uses Linux kernel version PC Junkyard fashion the only bits of it left by now are the mother- 2.4.26 and a newer one called DSL-4.4.10 which uses Linux kernel board and the power supply. No preferences are expressed here — version 2.4.31. Sure, there exists a newer Linux kernel but this is check out what you have lying around, dig it out and see if it works how DSL is configured in order to keep the system small and fast. for you. For the purpose of this article, version DSL-3.4.12 was downloaded There is one thing though that needs to be in place. Your old PC from [2], the file you want is identified as “dsl-3.4.12.iso”. The reason must have either a USB or an RS232 connector. You need to align for choosing the DSL-3.4.12 version is mainly due to the author’s ‘C’ this with the method of connecting the mobile phone to the PC. development environment used for the control centre described in Nowadays USB is the port of choice but not so long ago it was his book [3]. Once downloaded, use your favourite CD burning soft- 70 02-2011 elektor
  • 71. 61002 LINUX SMS GATEWAY ware to make a bootable CD containing DSL. Note that you have Table 1. Junkyard PC hardware configuration (example) downloaded an ISO image file, this is essential to know when you burn the CD-ROM for later use. CPU Pentium III 600MHz The CD-ROM you just made is a Live CD allowing you to boot up a RAM: 384 Mbytes fully functional Linux system running completely in RAM. BIOS: PhoenixBIOS 4.0 release 6.0 As you probably want to install a permanent system, the next thing to do – after the first boot up — is to install DSL on your old PC’s Hard disk: 10 GByte (Samsung) hard disk. Now that’s straightforward and can be found under the Network card: Realtek 100Mbit card menu item: Display adaptor: APPS->Tools->Install to Hard Drive. CD-ROM drive: NEC DVD drive Note that the menu is found by right clicking anywhere on the desk- top. Please refer to the description at the end of this article if you need help installing DSL. Connect the mobile phone Like in the November 2008 article a Siemens mobile phone is being used, in this case a C65 mainly because the author contributed to developing it. Not surprisingly the AT command set [4] interface and the phone proper are ‘old stomping ground’. Don’t feel tied to using the C65 phone in this project though, and as you can see when we get to the SMS gateway software, one of the most commonly used mobiles are [… drumroll …] Nokia phones. In Figure 1 you can see what the interface cables to the C65 look like. To the right in the picture is the RS232 connector and in the centre, the actual phone connector. To the left there is a small power adaptor in order to keep the phone running so you never need to turn it off and recharge it. If you attach the phone to the RS232 interface right away you will Figure 1. Siemens C65 mobile phone interface cables. then be able to communicate with the phone via the device inter- face called /dev/ttyS0. If you have done some C programming (if not there’s a good Elektor book on this [7]) you will know how to read from and write to a file. It is exactly the same thing here. In order to read or write to the phone you read or write to /dev/ttyS0. In order to verify that the phone is connected and working there is a small program called ‘microcom’ you can use, see Figure 2. In case your PC has a USB connector and no RS232 interface you can use an USB-RS232 converter. If you do that you will get a different device interface this time called /dev/ttyUSB0. In order to use ‘microcom’ to test your connection this time you need to tell ‘micro- com’ which interface to use. This is done as shown in Figure 3. If your phone and PC both have USB connectivity, just connect them Figure 2. microcom w. /dev/ttyS0. together and your device interface will then be /dev/ACM0. You ver- ify the connection the same way as with the USB-RS232 converter. When connecting the phone via the USB interface you need to set Table 2. Possible device interfaces. up your phone in ‘modem’ mode or similar. In many cases a mobile phone has a USB mode setting where you can choose between Interface Device ‘mass storage’, ‘modem’ and maybe some more modes. You may Std RS232 /dev/ttyS0 have to do some testing to see what’s working. All in all it gives you USB - RS232 /dev/ttyUSB0 possibilities listed in Table 2. USB /dev/ttyACM0 You will be able to install support for both IrDA and Bluetooth as elektor 02-2011 71
  • 72. 61002 LINUX SMS GATEWAY DSL step by step installation Listen up PC users, DSL here means Damn Small Linux, not Digital Subscriber Line. 1. Insert the Live CD in you CD-ROM drive and power up the PC. Remember to set the boot sequence to CD-ROM first. 2. Set the language like “boot: dsl lang=xx” (where xx = language code) then hit Enter. You can see more lan- guage definitions by pressing F2. This should bring up you DSL desktop. DSL menus are found by right clicking anywhere outside a program on the desktop. Find the following menu: APPS->Tools->Install to Hard Drive. 3. You are now ready to install DSL on your hard disk. Please note all data present before the installation will be lost after the installation. During the installation you will be asked some questions which most likely should have the following answers: Enter the target partition: hda2 (or hda1) Do you wish to support multiuser login: n Use journalized ext3 filesystem: n Continue: y (This was your last warning to save the content on the PC) Proceed to install a boot loader: y Use [G]rub MBR or [L]ilo Active Partion: g (If you selected hda2 above the following will appear) Do you have windows installed: no Reboot: yes 4. You should now remove the CD and see your system reboot for the first time. The first picture will be the Grub boot loader startup picture. After that you will be asked to assign your system a root and a user dsl password. After that you should then get your DSL desktop up. well but that’s maybe another article. in a directory where you can find it later as you need to include the You should hopefully now have a running Linux system and a work- location in a boot file. The default download location is /tmp. ing mobile phone attached. High time to install some software. As indicated in the DSL description for gnokii you need to download the following software packages as well: - gtk+-2.12.9.uci Installing gnokii - bluez-utils.uci. The SMS gateway software we’re going to use is the software from gnokii [5]. In the following a lot of file manipulation will take place. Like the gnokii software these are also located under ‘testing’ in the You can do this either via a terminal window using Linux commands MyDSL Extension tool and should be saved in the same directory as or use the built-in file manager called Emelfm. This file manager can the gnokii software. Once downloaded the software packages will be accessed by the Emelfm icon on the desktop. be installed in the /opt directory — or mounted as they will not be If you are a hardcore Linux user you will now download the code present there following the next reboot. and compile it yourself. You can still do that but fortunately you In order to have the newly installed software available after a reboot will also be able to find prefab software packages made by the DSL you need to add the following community. The ready to run software packages can be found via the MyDSL - mydsl-load /tmp/gnokii-0.6.25.uci (Extension tool) icon on the desktop. Once started you will be able - mydsl-load /tmp/gtk+-2.12.9.uci to see lots of precompiled (almost) ready-to-install applications. - mydsl-load /tmp/ bluez-utils.uci The installations we are interested in here can be found under the ‘Testing’ tab! at the end of the file /opt/bootlocal.sh. If hardcore you can use the Please remember that you need to have Internet access in order ‘Beaver’ or ‘VI’-editor to edit /opt/bootlocal.sh. You can verify that to use the MyDSL tool. If not, you will be unable to see the list of your software packages are fully mounted by right clicking the precompiled applications and therefore unable to download them. MyDSL icon and selecting ‘UCI tool’. This displays which UCI pack- Under ‘testing’ you will find the gnokii-0.6.25.uci package. The UCI ages are loaded. extension indicates that it is a Universal Compressed ISO image. Next thing to do is to set-up gnokii. This is done by copying the file: Extensions with the .uci format are mounted as a separate file sys- /opt/gnokii-0.6.25/gnokiirc tem to minimize RAM usage. On mounting, see [6]. to the home directory for the user dsl — which is /home/dsl — and You download the software package by selecting it and after having rename the file to “.gnokiirc” (<dot>gnokiirc). In case you want to read the instructions hit ‘download’. You should save the software run the software as root you need to copy the file to the root-home 72 02-2011 elektor
  • 73. 61002 LINUX SMS GATEWAY directory – which is /root. in a terminal window. Remember to have your mobile phone In the config file you need to specify the correct port. You can switched on. see which port you should select in Table 2. It’s recommended to specify: You will hopefully see lots of AT commands flying across the screen, port=/dev/ttyUSB0 ending with a listing of your phone’s IMEI number, Manufacturer, when a USB-RS232 converter is used. Model and Product name. You also need to specify which model you will be using. Here If it is not working you’re in for a debug session. Some hints to a you need to read the documentation and/or consult the gnokii conclusion can be found in the file: homepage. /var/log/messages I specified model=AT You may also want to increase the gnokii debug information in the as I wanted to use the AT-command mode, which is fully supported gnokii config file mentioned earlier. by the C65 phone. After installation you will have noticed two additional icons (Gnocky By default it should not be necessary to change more in the config and Xgnokii). They are the entry points to a GUI interface. In order to file. The rest of the parameters are explained if you want to experi- use them you need to do some initialisation of the new GTK library ment with them. before you reboot your PC for the first time after the download and To verify that your system is working you should now run the fol- installation of the software. lowing command: The initialisation is done via the MyDSL menu, which has been gnokii —-identify extended by two new entries: Advertisement See your project in print! Elektor magazine is looking for Technical Authors/Design Engineers If you have a an innovative or original project you’d like to share with Elektor’s 140 k+ readership and the electronics community a above average skills in designing electronic circuits a experience in writing electronics-related software a basic skills in complementing your hardware or software with explanatory text a a PC, email and Internet access for efficient communications with Elektor’s centrally located team of editors and technicians then don’t hesitate to contact us for exciting opportunities to get your project or feature article published. Our Author Guidelines are at: www.elektor.com/authors. Elektor Jan Buiting MA, Editor Regus Brentford, 1000 Great West Road, Brentford TW8 9HH, United Kingdom Email: editor@elektor.com elektor 02-2011 73
  • 74. 61002 LINUX SMS GATEWAY Figure 4. If you like working with old computers and Linux, this book comes highly recommended. gnokii-0-6-25 GTK+-2.12.9-setup The actual initialisation of the new GTK library is achieved via the menu item: MyDSL->GTK+-2.12.9-setup->GTK+-2.12.9-setup And then just follow the instructions. This makes gnokii look continuously for incoming Text msgs and After the initialisation of the GTK library you can use the two GUI save them into a mailbox under interfaces (Gnocky and Xgnokii) either via the icons on the desktop /tmp/sms/* (actual filename varies). or via the MyDSL menu. Such a file could look like this: One final tip before we continue using the actual software: in case /tmp/sms/sms_4512345678_1189_0 you want to keep the new menu items in the MyDSL menu listing, and will contain the content as you would see it on your mobile you should save a copy of the file phone. There will be no additional information present. /home/dsl/.fluxbox/mydsl.menu and replace the myDSL.menu file that will be created after a reboot If everything works as expected, incoming Texts are never actually of the PC. saved in the phone. You exit the gnokii smsreader mode by pressing <ctrl>–<c>. Please note that you will not be able to receive and send Text mes- Using gnokii sages at the same time. This is due to the way Linux works. When If everything you’ve done so far has been successful you should now you start the gnokii program it will lock the device specified with the be ready to send your first Text (SMS) message. Before continuing, port command in the gnokii config file, thereby preventing other be cautioned that “depending on your mobile phone subscrip- programs from using the port. tion, sending excessive numbers of Text messages may cost you What I have shown so far is the basic stuff that must be present a fortune if you are not careful. No monies returned.” Having said in order to set up a small rudimentary TEXT Gateway. In a further that, let’s continue. article I will show how to install an Apache server and make the received Texts available to ‘the public’ and present a more stream- Sending Text lined interface to send Texts around — overcoming the need to use In order to text somebody, start a terminal window so you can enter the command line interface. commands. If you just enter the following: If you’re interested in the full details of how to design your own gnokii Embedded Linux Control Centre on a PC, check out the Elektor book you will see all the arguments that can be used with gnokii. The ones with that title [3] (Figure 4). we are interested in is the –sendsms argument. So, to send a Text (090939) message (SMS) you need to enter the following: echo “enter text here” | gnokii --sendsms +4412345678 Internet Links Where +4412345678 is the phone number with the country code [1] DSL homepage: http://damnsmalllinux.org/ included (+44 for United Kingdom). Note that there is no space [2] DSL download link: between ‘—‘and ‘sendsms’. http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/damnsmall/ In the terminal window you should hopefully once again see many current/dsl-3.x/ AT commands flying across the screen ending with the following [3] Design your own Embedded Linux Control Centre on a PC: text before the command prompt returns: www.elektor.com/products/books/computer/ Message sent (reference: 2) embedded-linux.529463.lynkx Send succeeded! [4] AT command set decription: Serial device: closing device. The number after reference: may differ. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT_commands [5] gnokii homepage : http://www.gnokii.org/ Receiving Text [6] Two descriptions of mounting file systems: In order to receive Text (SMS messages) we need to make use of one http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_%28computing%29 of the other arguments to gnokii: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_%28Unix%29 --smsreader So to receive Texts you should enter the following command in a [7] C Programming for Embedded Microcontrollers: terminal window: www.elektor.com/products/books/microcontrollers/ gnokii --smsreader c-programming-for-embedded-microcontrollers.868705.lynkx 74 02-2011 elektor
  • 75. 61002 INFOTAINMENT Hexadoku Puzzle with an electronics touch Is your hexadecimal calculus a bit rusty? Not to worry, for this ‘electronified’ puzzle the requirements are limited to counting from 0 to F, persistence and some logic reasoning to arrive at the solution. Enter the right numbers in the puzzle, send the ones in the grey boxes to us and you automatically enter the prize draw for four Elektor Shop vouchers. Have fun! The instructions for this puzzle are straightforward. Fully geared to in each column and in each of the 4×4 boxes (marked by the thicker electronics fans and programmers, the Hexadoku puzzle employs black lines). A number of clues are given in the puzzle and these the hexadecimal range 0 through F. In the diagram composed of determine the start situation. Correct entries received enter a draw 16 × 16 boxes, enter numbers such that all hexadecimal numbers for a main prize and three lesser prizes. All you need to do is send us 0 through F (that’s 0-9 and A-F) occur once only in each row, once the numbers in the grey boxes. Solve Hexadoku and win! Participate! Correct solutions received from the entire Elektor readership automati- Before March 1, 2011, send your solution (the numbers in the grey cally enter a prize draw for one Elektor Shop voucher worth £ 80.00 boxes) by email, fax or post to and three Elektor Shop Vouchers worth £ 40.00 each, which should Elektor Hexadoku – 1000, Great West Road – Brentford TW8 9HH encourage all Elektor readers to participate. United Kingdom. Fax (+44) 208 2614447 Email: hexadoku@elektor.com Prize winners The solution of the December 2010 Hexadoku is: 381F0. The £80.00 voucher has been awarded to: B. Horn (Germany). The £40.00 vouchers have been awarded to: Karin Menzel (Germany), Serge Sussel (France), Christian Klems (The Netherlands). Congratulations everyone! 9 C F 8 4 D 7 3 A E 2 5 B 1 0 6 1 E 4 B 2 A 6 C 7 0 8 D 5 3 9 F 0 7 2 D 1 B 5 F 6 9 C 3 8 E A 4 3 A 5 6 E 9 0 8 4 B F 1 C D 2 7 4 F 8 3 5 C 2 9 0 6 E A D 7 B 1 A 9 D 0 B 7 E 6 3 C 1 2 4 F 5 8 7 1 6 E 8 4 F A B D 5 9 3 0 C 2 B 2 C 5 D 0 3 1 F 4 7 8 9 A 6 E D 8 3 9 F 1 4 0 C A B 6 E 2 7 5 5 B A 7 3 6 C 2 8 1 9 E F 4 D 0 E 4 1 2 7 5 9 B D 3 0 F A 6 8 C C 6 0 F A 8 D E 5 2 4 7 1 9 3 B F D 7 1 0 E A 5 9 8 6 C 2 B 4 3 6 3 E 4 C 2 8 D 1 7 A B 0 5 F 9 2 5 9 C 6 3 B 4 E F D 0 7 8 1 A 8 0 B A 9 F 1 7 2 5 3 4 6 C E D The competition is not open to employees of Elektor International Media, its business partners and/or associated publishing houses. elektor 02-2011 75
  • 76. 61002 RETRONICS Slide Rules & the Electronic Engineer By Reginald W. Neale (USA) Engineers translate ideas into Semiconductor notes that if auto- products. They’re limited by the motive technology had followed tools available for facilitating that the same trajectory as computer translation. Over the span of my technology, today you would be engineering career, those tools able to buy a Chevy for a penny have undergone a dramatic trans- and it would get 10,000 miles per formation. I hope you will agree gallon. Sounds like hyperbole? In that it’s interesting to review on 1948, ENIAC cost $500 k and per- this month’s Retronics pages formed 0.002 MIPS. The current some of the rich history of those Digi-Key catalogue lists embed- changes. First-hand knowledge of ded controllers for $0.50 that per- much of this material is fast disap- form 2 MIPS. Apply those same pearing. Fortunately, the web has factors to the 1948 Chevy at $2 k some remarkable archives that and 15 mpg and Rodgers’ claim will help to preserve it. doesn’t look so preposterous. Nothing new, just faster! Reference tables and Let’s take a brief look at the tech- pencils nology that produced radios, Compared to the design world rockets, bridges and automo- we take for granted today, the biles sixty years ago, when many environment of a mid-twentieth of today’s tools were yet to be century designer was awkward invented. Consider that your and inefficient. Whatever tech- computer, calculator and soft- nical information you couldn’t ware design package don’t do keep in your head had to be anything fundamentally new, retrieved from reference books. they just make the old tasks New advances in technology took easier and orders of magnitude months or even years to trickle faster. To one of today’s newly down from laboratories to arti- minted engineers, the pace of cles printed in trade magazines yesterday’s product life cycles and scientific publications. There would appear glacial; the design 1 was also an overwhelming gen- time and effort per product would der bias — engineers were almost seem exhausting. And there were exclusively male. once entire disciplines, like high- performance filter design, whose Here’s an example of how pain- commercial potential was unre- ful it could be to complete even alized because the calculations a simple calculation, back when could be so tedious. you had to do it the hard way. Suppose you need to find an accu- Obviously, the tool revolution rate value for the reactance of a has been powered by continuous 220 pF capacitor at 6.085 MHz. advances in semiconductor tech- Picking up your paper and pencil, nology. Transistors, integrated cir- you write down Xc = 1/(2πfC). You cuits and microcontrollers have open up your book of logarithm relentlessly driven increases in tables. You look up the logarithm the computing power available of each factor and you do the to electronic engineers. Moore’s 2 arithmetic, grinding out a result Law predicts that semiconductor of 2.07514. capability roughly doubles every two years. The cumulative effect of In Figure 1, the nearest value in the table is .07518. Using the Pro- this exponential increase has been profound. T.J. Rodgers of Cypress portional Parts chart at the right, you determine that the antilog is 76 02-2011 elektor
  • 77. 61002 RETRONICS approximately 1189. Your calcula- aligned. A couple of significant tion results in a characteristic or figures for the standard-sized rule exponent of 2, so the solution is would be typical. What a contrast Xc = 118.9 ohms. Whew! And you to the calculator accessory in my have to hope you didn’t make any three year old PDA, which cranks dumb mistakes in your arithmetic out twelve significant figures as or in using the tables. No wonder soon as you hit the ENTER key! reactance nomograms and other charts were so popular in mid- From Burroughs & Co. century technical publications. to HP and TI Usually they could get you close he typical engineering student enough for building a prototype proudly carried his rule hanging circuit, and you could tweak the from his belt, in a leather scab- value from there. bard. If 2010 students have even heard of slide rules, they prob- Slide rulez ably associate them with the era Unless the highest precision was of powdered wigs and quill pens. needed, most mid-century engi- neers would have skipped the In the early ‘70s when simple above hand calculation in favour four-function handheld calcula- of using a slide rule. Slide rules tors were flooding the market, are nearly as old as logarithms. A scientific calculators were still slide rule is simply a mechanical priced out of reach for most engi- analogue computer that adds and neers. The geek community soon subtracts logarithms by repre- developed clever algorithms to senting them as distances. Much implement transcendental func- less accurate than log tables; but tions (Figure 3) on the cheap again, close enough for many pur- four-bangers from Burroughs and poses and far, far quicker. Slide other manufacturers. But just as rules don’t have decimal points, these shortcuts hit their stride, so the user is forced to keep track 3 the first affordable scientific hand- of it mentally. That might sound held calculators finally arrived: like a nuisance, but it’s a mental the Hewlett-Packard HP-35 and skill that engineers should still the Texas Instruments SR-50 exercise today as a reality check. (Figure 4). It would take almost another decade for real personal Figure 2 shows a selection of computers to become widely slide rules: a miniature combina- available, but the handhelds made tion slide rule and caliper that fits logarithm tables and slide rules into a pocket protector, and two obsolete almost overnight. standard 10-inch rules with user (100802) manuals. Circular rules were also available, along with elaborate helical rules boasting spiral scales equivalent to 10 feet in length! Accuracy depends on the skill of the user, the size of the rule, and how carefully the scales are 4 Retronics is a monthly column covering vintage electronics including legendary Elektor designs. Contributions, suggestions and requests are welcomed; please send an email to editor@elektor.com elektor 02-2011 77
  • 78. 61002 ELEKTORSHOWCASE To book your showcase space contact Elektor International Media Tel. 0031 (0) 46 4389444 Fax 0031 (0) 46 4370161 ASTROBE V3.0 CEDA EMBEDDED ADVENTURES www.astrobe.com www.ceda.in www.embeddedadventures.com Windows Development System for LPC2000 ceda@vsnl.com From news and tutorials to modules, components microcontrollers. and kits, we have everything for your next • Develop high-and low-level software without microcontroller based project. C or assembler Your embedded adventure starts here. • Generate fast 32-bit native ARM code • No special programming hardware required • Personal, Standard and Professional Editions • PCB Layout & library service @$5 Hourly • PCB Reverse Engg, MCU Code/ckt. Extraction service FIRST TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER LTD. ATOMIC PROGRAMMING LTD • Learn Signal Integrity with Hyperlynx, PCB http://www.ftt.co.uk www.atomicprogramming.com Design with PADS & Allegro. Support by email • Training and Consulting • AP-114 ISP/JTAG Programming System & web meeting for IT, Embedded and • JTAG Programming and Testing Real Time Systems • Boundary Scan Testing • Assembler, C, C++ (all levels) • Universal In-System Programming • 8, 16 and 32 bit microcontrollers • EEPROM and SPI Flash Out-of-Circuit DESIGNER SYSTEMS • Microchip, ARM, Renesas, TI, Freescale Programming http://www.designersystems.co.uk • CMX, uCOSII, FreeRTOS, Linux operating • Generic GDB Proxy Professional product development services. systems Server • Marine (Security, Tracking, Monitoring & control) • Ethernet, CAN, USB, TCP/IP, Zigbee, Bluetooth • Jennic JN5148 programming • Automotive (AV, Tracking, ZigBee Development Gadget, Monitoring & control) Applications • Industrial (Safety systems, • Training Platform available Monitoring over Ethernet) FLEXIPANEL LTD www.flexipanel.com • Telecoms (PSTN handsets, GSM/GPRS) TEAclippers - the smallest • AudioVisual ((HD)DVD accessories & controllers) AVIT RESEARCH PIC programmers in the world, Tel: +44 (0) 845 5192306 from £20 each: www.avitresearch.co.uk USB has never been so simple... • Per-copy firmware sales with our USB to Microcontroller Interface cable. • Firmware programming & archiving Appears just like a serial port to both PC and • In-the-field firmware updates Microcontroller, for really easy USB connection to EASYSYNC • Protection from design theft by subcontractors http://www.easysync.co.uk your projects, or replacement of existing RS232 EasySync Ltd sells a wide interfaces. See our webpage for more range of single and multi- FUTURE TECHNOLOGY DEVICES port USB to RS232/RS422 http://www.ftdichip.com details. From £10.00. and RS485 converters at competitive prices. FTDI designs and sells USB-UART and USB-FIFO interface i.c.’s. BLACK ROBOTICS Complete with PC drivers, www.blackrobotics.com Robot platforms and brains for ELNEC these devices simplify the task of designing or www.elnec.com upgrading peripherals to USB research, hobby and education. Europe’s leading device programmers manufacturer: • Make your robot talk! • reliable HW: • TalkBotBrain is open-source • Free robot speech software 3 years warranty for • Robot humanisation technology most programmers • Mandibot Gripper Robot • support over 58.000 devices Oscilloscopes • free SW updates Power Supplies • SW release: few times a week Spectrum Analyzers • excellent technical support: RF Instruments TO BOOK YOUR SHOWCASE SPACE Algorithms On Request, On Demand SW Programmable CONTACT ELEKTOR INTERNATIONAL • all products at stock / fast delivery Measuring Instruments MEDIA Great Value in Test & Measurement Tel. 0031 (0) 46 4389444 Fax 0031 (0) 46 4370161 www.elektor.com www.hameg.com 78 02-2011 elektor
  • 79. 61002 products and services directory HEXWAX LTD www.hexwax.com www.elektor.com STEORN SKDB LITE Join the SKDB Lite, the place World leaders in Driver-Free USB ICs: to understand, discuss and experiment with magnetics. • USB-UART/SPI/I2C bridges • TEAleaf-USB authentication dongles ROBOT ELECTRONICS • Learn more about magnetics and electromagnetics • expandIO-USB I/O USB expander http://www.robot-electronics.co.uk • Participate in developer forums and discussion • USB-FileSys flash drive with SPI interface Advanced Sensors and Electronics for Robotics surrounding magnetics and related topics. • USB-DAQ data logging flash drive • Ultrasonic Range Finders For FREE access to SKDB Lite: • Compass modules https://kdb.steorn.com/ref25 • Infra-Red Thermal sensors • Motor Controllers VIRTINS TECHNOLOGY • Vision Systems www.virtins.com • Wireless Telemetry Links PC and Pocket PC based • Embedded Controllers virtual instrument such as sound card real time oscilloscope, spectrum analyzer, signal generator, ROBOTIQ multimeter, sound meter, http://www.robotiq.co.uk distortion analyzer, LCR meter. 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MQP ELECTRONICS Fun for the whole family! www.mqp.com Now, available in time for X-mas • Low cost USB Bus Analysers • High, Full or Low speed captures • Graphical analysis and filtering • Arduino Starter Kits *NEW!!* • Lego NXT Mindstorms www. • Automatic speed detection • Bus powered from high speed PC • Affordable Embedded Linux Boards • Vex Robotics (kits and components) elektor. • Capture buttons and feature connector • Optional analysis classes • POB Robots (kits and components) email: sales@robotiq.co.uk Tel: 020 8669 0769 com SHOWCASE YOUR COMPANY HERE Elektor Electronics has a feature to help • For just £242 + VAT (£22 per issue for image - e.g. a product shot, a screen shot customers promote their business, eleven issues) Elektor will publish your from your site, a company logo - your Showcase - a permanent feature of the company name, website address and a choice magazine where you will be able to showcase 30-word description your products and services. • For £363 + VAT for the year (£33 per Places are limited and spaces will go on issue for eleven issues) we will publish a strictly first come, first served basis. the above plus run a 3cm deep full colour So-please fax back your order today! I wish to promote my company, please book my space: • Text insertion only for £242 + VAT • Text and photo for £363 + VAT NAME: ..................................................................................................... ORGANISATION: ....................................................................................... JOB TITLE: ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ADDRESS: ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................... TEL: .............................................................................................................. PLEASE COMPLETE COUPON BELOW AND FAX BACK TO 00-44-(0)1932 564998 COMPANY NAME ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... WEB ADDRESS .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 30-WORD DESCRIPTION ............................................................................................................................................................................................. ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... elektor 02-2011 79
  • 80. 61002 SHOP BOOKS, CD-ROMs, DVDs, KITS & MODULES Going Strong A world of electronics from a single shop! A must-have for audiophiles DVD Masterclass High- W! End Valve Amplifiers NE In this Masterclass Menno van der Veen will examine the predictability and perceptibility of the specifications of valve amplifiers. The DVD represents 3.5 hours of footage filmed in the grand meeting room of Elektor House. Bonus elements on the DVD include the complete Power- Point presentation (74 slides), scanned overhead sheets (22 pcs), AES Publica- tions mentioned during the Masterclass. Not forgetting the bombshell: 25 Elektor publications about valves. ISBN 978-0-905705-86-6 £24.90 • US $40.20 Offer Limited Period ! for Subscribers £4 DISCOUNTruary Fully elaborated electronics projects om/feb www.elektor.c 110 issues, more than 2,100 articles 309 Circuits DVD Elektoredition of the popular The present tenth CD/DVD-ROMs RFID, NFC, Zigbee, GPS and more 1990 throughbooks once again ‘30x Circuits’ series of 1999 DVD Wireless Toolbox contains a comprehensive variety of cir- This DVD-ROM contains the full range of cuits, sub-circuits, tips and tricks and de- On this DVD-ROM you’ll find a number of technical documents and tools that will enable you to 1990-1999 volumes (all 110 issues) of sign ideas for electronics. Among many add wireless data exchange to your electronics systems. The choice of equipment depends on Elektor Electronics magazine (PDF). The other inspiring topics, the following cat- the transmission distance: a few centimetres using Near Field Communication (NFC) or Radio more than 2,100 separate articles have egories are well presented in this book: Frequency Identification (RFID), tens of metres with the Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or ZigBee systems, or been classified chronologically by their test & measurement; RF (radio); comput- indeed thousands of kilometres using a module for receiving GPS data. In accordance with the dates of publication (month/year), but are ers and peripherals; audio & video; hobby principle of our Toolbox series, we’ve brought together technical documentation (spec. sheets, also listed alphabetically by topic. and modelling; microcontrollers; home & application notes, user guides, etc.) on various devices according to the frequency and/or pro- A comprehensive index enables you to garden; etcetera. tocol used. All of the documents are PDF files (in English). Browsing around the DVD is made easy search the entire DVD. by an HTML menu. 432 pages • ISBN 978-0-905705-69-9 ISBN 978-0-905705-76-7 £19.95 • US $39.95 ISBN 978-90-5381-268-6 • £28.50 • US $46.00 £69.00 • US $100.00 80 Prices and item descriptions subject to change. E. & O.E 02-2011 elektor
  • 81. 61002 75 Audio designs for home construction Bestseller! Visual Studio DVD The Audio Associated starter kit available Collection 3 C# 2010 Programming ARM Microcontrollers This DVD contains more than 75 different and PC interfacing This is the perfect book for people who want audio circuits from the volumes 2002-2008 This book is aimed at anyone who wants to to learn C and who want to use an mbed ARM of Elektor. The articles on the DVD-ROM learn about C# programming and interfac- microcontroller in an easy and fun way. The cover Amplifiers, Digital Audio, Loudspeak- ing to a PC. It covers programming con- mbed NXP LPC1768 uses cloud technology, ers, PC Audio, Test & Measurement and cepts from the basics to object oriented a revolutionary concept in software develop- Valves. Highlights include the ClariTy programming, displaying graphs, thread- ment. This means you do not need to in- 2x300 W Class-T amplifier, High-End Power ing and databases. The book is complete stall software on your PC in order to program Amp, Digital VU Meter, Valve Sound Con- with many full program examples, self as- the mbed! The only thing you need is a brow- verter, paX Power Amplifier, MP3 preamp sessment exercises and links to supporting ser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, and and much more. Using the included Adobe videos. All code examples used are availa- a USB port on your PC. No previous expe- Reader you are able to browse the articles ble – free of charge – from a special support rience or knowledge required. You can get on your computer, as well as print texts, cir- website. Professional quality software tools access to your project from any PC anywhere cuit diagrams and PCB layouts. are downloadable –also free of charge– in the world and continue working on it. from Microsoft. The Microsoft Visual Studio When you are done a few mouse clicks trans- ISBN 978-90-5381-263-1 2010 environment is extensively covered fer the program to your mbed hardware. £17.90 • US $28.90 with user controls and their properties, 250 pages • ISBN 978-0-905705-94-1 methods and events. Detailed guidance is £29.50 • US $47.60 provided for those wishing to control hard- ware from a PC with PC interfacing chapters which explain the legacy serial and parallel ports, analogue interfacing using the sound card and use of Microsoft DirectX drivers. Interfacing to the ubiquitous USB port is ex- Bestseller! plained in-depth with a detailed hardware and software design for a USB connected More than 75 power supply designs PIC-based hardware target included. CD The Power Supply 306 pages • ISBN 978-0-905705-95-8 £29.50 • US $47.60 Collection 1 This CD-ROM contains more than 75 differ- An introduction to digital control electronics More information on the ent power supply circuits from the volumes Experiments with 2001-2005 of Elektor. Highlights include Elektor Website: the Cuk Converter, Automatic Battery Digital Electronics Switchover, Battery Voltage LED, Digital www.elektor.com This book presents fundamental circuits Benchtop Power Supply, Lithium-Ion Elektor using gates, flip-flops and counters from the Charger, Electronic Fuse, High Voltage Reg- Regus Brentford CMOS 4000 Series. Learning these funda- ulator, Power Supply for USB Devices, Step- 1000 Great West Road mentals is best done using practical experi- up Conver ter for White LEDs, Vehicle Brentford ments. Each of the 50 experiments presented Adapter for Notebook PCs and much more. TW8 9HH in this book has a circuit diagram as well as a Using the included Adobe Reader you are United Kingdom detailed illustration of the circuit’s construc- able to browse the articles on your compu- Tel.: +44 20 8261 4509 tion on solderless breadboard. Building Books ter, as well as print texts, circuit diagrams Fax: +44 20 8261 4447 these digital circuits will improve your know- and PCB layouts. Email: sales@elektor.com ledge and will be fun to boot. ISBN 978-90-5381-265-5 176 pages • ISBN 978-0-905705-97-2 £17.90 • US $28.90 £26.50 • US $42.80 elektor 02-2011 81
  • 82. 61002 SHOP BOOKS, CD-ROMs, DVDs, KITS & MODULES Power Electronics in Motor Drives Principles, Application Books and Design Bestseller! Martin Brown NetWorker (December 2010) The Elektor DSP radio (July/August 2010) An Internet connection would be a valua- Principles, Application and Design ble addition to many projects, but often Many radio amateurs in practice use two Power Electronics designers are put off by the complexities receivers, one portable and the other a involved. The ‘NetWorker’, which consists fixed receiver with a PC control facility. in Motor Drives of a small printed circuit board, a free soft- The Elektor DSP radio can operate in ei- This book is aimed at people who want to ware library and a ready-to-use microcon- ther capacity, with a USB interface giving understand how AC inverter drives work troller-based web server, solves these the option of PC control. An additional and how they are used in industry. The problems and allows beginners to add In- feature of the USB interface is that it can book is much more about the practical ternet connectivity to their projects. More be used as the source of power for the re- design and application of drives than about experienced users will benefit from featu- ceiver, the audio output being connected the mathematical principles behind them. res such as SPI communications, power to the PC’s powered speakers. To allow The detailed electronics of DC and AC drive over Ethernet (PoE) and more. portable 6 V battery operation the circuit are explained, together with the theore- also provides for an audio amplifier with tical background and the practical design Module, ready assembled and tested one or two loudspeakers. issues such as cooling and protection. Art.# 100552-91 • £53.00 • US $85.50 PCB, assembled and tested 240 pages • ISBN 978-0-905705-89-7 £29.50 • US $47.60 Art.# 100126-91 • £149.00 • US $240.40 Digital Multi-Effects Reign with the Sceptre (March 2010) The ultimate tube amplifier reference book Unit (September 2010) This open-source & open-hardware pro- Kits & Modules Fundamental Amplifier ject aims to be more than just a little board It’s a simple fact: every recording sounds with a big microcontroller and a few use- Techniques better with the right sound effects. Here ful peripherals — it seeks to be a fast pro- The aim of this book is to give the reader we prove that it’s possible to generate a totyping system. To justify this title, in useful knowledge about electron tube tech- variety of effects digitally, including hall, addition to a very useful little board, we nology in the application of audio amplifi- chorus and flanger effects, without having also need user-friendly development tools ers, including their power supplies, for the to work yourself to the bone with DSP pro- and libraries that allow fast implementa- design and DIY construction of these elec- gramming. The circuit is built around a tion of the board’s peripherals. Ambitio- tron tube amplifiers. This is more than just highly integrated effects chip and featu- us? Maybe, but nothing should deter you building an electron tube amplifier from a res an intelligent user interface with an from becoming Master of Embedded Sys- schematic made from the design from LCD. The result is a treat for the eye and tems Universe with the help of the Elektor someone else. No modern simulations, but the ear. Sceptre. because you first understand the circuit cal- culations, then you can work with your Kit of parts including PCBs, programmed PCB, populated and tested, test software hands to build the circuit . controllers and EEPROM loaded (excluding Bluetooth module) 834 pages • ISBN 978-0-905705-93-4 Art.# 090835-71 • £165.00 • US $266.20 Art.# 090559-91• £89.00 • US $143.60 £65.00 • US $104.90 82 Prices and item descriptions subject to change. E. & O.E 02-2011 elektor
  • 83. 61002 £ US $ Bestsellers Product Shortlist February 2011 (No. 410) + + + Product Shor tlist Februar y: See www.elektor.com + + + January 2011 (No. 409) ARM Microcontrollers Nixie Tube Thermometer 090784-1 ...... Printed circuit board................................................. 12.40.......20.00 1 ISBN 978-0-905705-94-1 .... £29.50 .....US $47.60 090784-41 .... Programmed controller AT89C2051/24PU ................. 8.75.......14.10 Experiments with Digital Electronics Kits & Modules CD/DVD-ROMs Books Books Flight Data Recorder 071035-91 .... ATM18 controller module........................................... 7.30.......15.40 2 ISBN 978-0-905705-97-2 .... £26.50 .....US $42.80 090773-91 .... PCB, populated and tested C# 2010 Programming and PC interfacing with programmed bootloader .................................. 56.00.......90.00 100653-1 ...... Printed circuit board................................................. 12.95.......20.90 3 ISBN 978-0-905705-95-8 .... £29.50 .....US $47.60 Low-cost Headphone Amp Fundamental Amplifier Techniques 100500-71 .... Elektor Project Case ................................................. 16.80.......25.80 4 with Electron Tubes Kits & Mo- CD-ROMs 100701-1 ...... Printed circuit board.................................................. 8.75 ......14.10 ISBN 978-0-905705-93-4 .... £65.00 ...US $104.90 Wireless ECG Power Electronics in Motor Drives 080805-1 ...... Printed circuit board................................................... 8.75.......14.10 Support Board for Arduino Nano 5 ISBN 978-0-905705-89-7 .... £29.50 .....US $47.60 100396-1 ...... Printed circuit board................................................. 18.00.......29.00 CD The Power Supply Collection 1 December 2010 (No. 408) 1 ISBN 978-90-5381-265-5 .... £17.90 .....US $28.90 NetWorker DVD The Audio Collection 3 100552-91 .... Module, ready assembled and tested ........................ 53.00.......85.50 Heating System Monitor 2 ISBN 978-90-5381-263-1 .... £17.90 .....US $28.90 090328-41 .... ATmega328-20AU (TQFP32-08), programmed......... 11.00.......17.80 DVD Elektor 1990 through 1999 Stroboscopic PC Fan 100127-1 ...... Printed circuit board................................................... 4.50.........7.30 3 ISBN 978-0-905705-76-7 .... £69.00 ...US $100.00 100127-41 .... ATtiny 2313, programmed ....................................... 14.20.........8.75 DVD LED Toolbox ARM Freephone Control 080632-91 .... ECRM40 module, ready assembled and tested .......... 32.00.......51.70 4 ISBN 978-90-5381-245-7 .... £28.50 .....US $46.00 Masterclass Modular LED Message Board 100664-41 .... MC9S08SH32CWL, programmed ............................... 8.75.......14.20 5 DVD High-End Valve Amplifiers ISBN 978-0-905705-86-6 .... £24.90 .... US $40.20 Speed Controller for Small DC Motors 100571-41 .... ATtiny44-20PU, programmed .................................... 8.75.......14.20 NetWorker November 2010 (Nr. 407) 1 Art. # 100552-91 ................ £53.00 .....US $85.50 Micro Fuel Cell Measures Oxygen Concentration Digital Multi-Effects Unit 090773-91 .... PCB, populated and tested 2 Art. #090835-71 .............. £165.00 US $266.20 with programmed bootloader .................................. 56.00.......90.40 The 5532 OpAmplifier (2) Reign with the Sceptre 100124-1 ...... Amplifier board (one channel) .................................. 23.00.......37.10 3 Art. # 090559-91 ................ £89.00 ...US $143.60 100124-2 ...... Power supply board.................................................. 17.95.......29.00 Camera Interval Timer Elektor DSP radio 081184-41 .... PIC16F886-I/SP, SPDIP28, programmed ..................... 8.00.......12.90 4 Art. # 100126-91 .............. £149.00 US $240.40 October 2010 (No. 406) InterSceptre CL-3 Digital Rotary Combination Lock 5 Art. # 100174-71 .............. £116.00 US $187.10 100026-41 .... Atmel ATTINY2313-20PU, programmed ..................... 8.00.......12.90 Wheelie GT 100479-71 .... Kit of parts upgrade kit controller board + 2x Hall sensor board ............................................... 105.00.....169.40 Order quickly and securely through September 2010 (No. 405) Elektor Project Case www.elektor.com/shop 100500-71 .... Predrilled Lexan sheets with standoffs ...................... 14.90.......24.10 Digital Multi-Effects Unit or use the Order Form near the end 090835-31 .... EEPROM 24LC32......................................................... 4.00.........6.50 090835-41 .... ATmega8-16PU.......................................................... 8.30.......13.40 of the magazine! 090835-42 .... ATtiny2313-20PU....................................................... 8.30.......13.40 090835-71 .... Kit of parts including PCBs, programmed controllers and EEPROM .......................................................... 165.00.....266.20 Elektor Dual Voltage/Current Display Regus Brentford 100166-71 .... Kit of parts incl. PCB, item -41, LCD ........................... 62.00.....100.00 1000 Great West Road Vision System for Small Microcontrollers Brentford TW8 9HH • United Kingdom 090334-1 ...... PCB 19.90 32.10 Tel. +44 20 8261 4509 090334-41 .... PIC16F690-I/P, programmed ...................................... 8.00.......12.90 Fax +44 20 8261 4447 Email: sales@elektor.com elektor 02-2011 83
  • 84. 61002 COMING ATTRACTIONS NEXT MONTH IN ELEKTOR SatLocator Anyone who regularly needs to align a mobile satellite dish (for example, on top of the caravan), is forever busy locating these ‘birds’ in the sky. This handy circuit is linked to a database containing popular TV satellites and employs GPS data to calculate the angle at which the satellite can be received. The hardware consists of little more than a GPS receiver module, an ATmega8 microcontroller and an LCD. Very handy for use on your next vacation! Minimod18 Web Server In this instalment of the Minimod18 (ATM18) series we put this AVR controller ‘brick’ at the heart of a basic web server. For the client we propose the Firefox browser which ensures error-free HTML viewing. A type EZL-70 module is in control and ensures a smooth adjust- ment between the various components. Wireless Telemetry for Elektor Wheelie ElektorWheelie, our popular self-balancing two-wheel vehicle gets a transmitter/receiver combination that allows lots of live system data such as battery voltage, speed, power per engine and tilt angle to be transmitted wirelessly to a laptop. A related program processes and visualizes data, giving a good impression of how your Wheelie is behaving and what software remains to be tweaked. Article titles and magazine contents subject to change; please check the Magazine tab on www.elektor.com Elektor UK/European March 2011 edition: on sale February 17, 2011. Elektor USA March 2011 edition: published February 9, 2011. ww.elektor.com www.elektor.com www.elektor.com www.elektor.com www.elektor.com ww Elektor on the web All magazine articles back to volume 2000 are available online in pdf format. The article summary and parts list (if applicable) can be instantly viewed to help you positively identify an article. Article related items are also shown, including software downloads, circuit boards, programmed ICs and corrections and updates if applicable. Complete magazine issues may also be downloaded. In the Elektor Shop you’ll find all other products sold by the publishers, like CD-ROMs, DVDs, kits, modules, equipment, tools and books. A powerful search function allows you to search for items and references across the entire website. Also on the Elektor website: • Electronics news and Elektor announcements • Readers Forum • PCB, software and e-magazine downloads • Time limited offers • FAQ, Author Guidelines and Contact 84 02-2011 elektor
  • 85. 61002 Order Form 02-2011 Description DVD Wireless Toolbox1 NEW Price each Qty. Total Order Code £28.50 METHOD OF PAYMENT (see reverse before ticking as appropriate) CD The Power Supply Collection 1 NEW £17.90 Fundamental Amplifier Techniques Bank transfer with Electron Tubes NEW £65.00 Cheque (UK-resident customers ONLY) ARM Microcontrollers NEW £29.50 Experiments with Digital Electronics £26.50 C# 2010 Programming and PC interfacing £29.50 LEDs 1 (Special Project) £9.90 Expiry date: _______________________ Verification code: ___________________ Sub-total Please send this order form to* Prices and item descriptions subject to change. P&P (see reverse for conditions) The publishers reserve the right to change prices without prior notification. Prices and item descriptions Total paid Elektor shown here supersede those in previous issues. E. & O.E. Regus Brentford 1000 Great West Road Brentford TW8 9HH Name United Kingdom Tel.: +44 20 8261 4509 Address + Post code Fax: +44 20 8261 4447 www.elektor.com sales@elektor.com *USA and Canada residents should use $ prices, and send the order form to: Tel. Email Elektor US PO Box 180 Vernon CT 06066 Date – – Signature USA Phone: 860-875-2199 ✁ Fax: 860-871-0411 EL02 E-mail: sales@elektor.com Order Form 02-2011 Yes, I am taking out an annual subscription to Elektor and receive the E-book METHOD OF PAYMENT Microcontroller Basics totally free!* (see reverse before ticking as appropriate) (Please fill in your emailaddress below) Bank transfer I would like: Cheque Standard Subscription (11 issues) E-book (UK-resident customers ONLY) Subscription-Plus (11 issues plus the Elektor Volume 2010 DVD-ROM TIP + exclusive access to www.elektor-plus.com) * Offer available to Subscribers who have not held a subscription to Elektor during the last 12 months. Offer subject to availability. See reverse for rates and conditions. Expiry date: _______________________ Name Verification code: ___________________ Subscription Address + Post code Please send this order form to Elektor Regus Brentford 1000 Great West Road Tel. Email Brentford TW8 9HH United Kingdom Date – – Signature Tel.: +44 20 8261 4509 Fax: +44 20 8261 4447 ✁ www.elektor.com EL02 subscriptions@elektor.com
  • 86. 61002 ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS, P&P CHARGES All orders, except for subscriptions (for which see below), must be sent BY POST or FAX to our Brentford address using the Order Form overleaf. Online ordering: www.elektor.com/shop Readers in the USA and Canada should send orders, except for subscriptions (for which see below), to the USA address given on the order form. Please apply to Elektor US for applicable P&P charges. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Orders placed on our Brentford office must include P&P charges (Priority or Standard) as follows: Europe: £6.00 (Standard) or £7.00 (Priority) Outside Europe: £9.00 (Standard) or £11.00 (Priority) HOW TO PAY All orders must be accompanied by the full payment, including postage and packing charges as stated above or advised by Customer Services staff. Bank transfer into account no. 40270211 held by Elektor International Media BV with The Royal Bank of Scotland, London. IBAN: GB96 ABNA 4050 3040 2702 11. BIC: ABNAGB2L. Currency: sterling (UKP). Please ensure your full name and address gets communicated to us. Cheque sent by post, made payable to Elektor Electronics. We can only accept sterling cheques and bank drafts from UK-resident customers or subscribers. We regret that no cheques can be accepted from customers or subscribers in any other country. GCredit card VISA and MasterCard can be processed by mail, email, web, fax and telephone. Online ordering through our website is SSL-protected for your security. COMPONENTS Components for projects appearing in Elektor are usually available from certain advertisers in this magazine. If difficulties in the supply of components are envisaged, a source will normally be advised in the article. Note, however, that the source(s) given is (are) not exclusive. TERMS OF BUSINESS Delivery Although every effort will be made to dispatch your order within 2-3 weeks from receipt of your instructions, we can not guaran- tee this time scale for all orders. Returns Faulty goods or goods sent in error may be returned for replacement or refund, but not before obtaining our consent. All goods returned should be packed securely in a padded bag or box, enclosing a covering letter stating the dispatch note number. If the goods are returned because of a mistake on our part, we will refund the return postage. Damaged goods Claims for damaged goods must be received at our Brentford office within 10-days (UK); 14-days (Europe) or 21-days (all other countries). Cancelled orders All cancelled orders will be subject to a 10% handling charge with a minimum charge of £5.00. Patents Patent protection may exist in respect of circuits, devices, components, and so on, described in our books and magazines. Elektor does not accept responsi- bility or liability for failing to identify such patent or other protection. Copyright All drawings, photographs, articles, printed circuit boards, programmed integrated circuits, diskettes and software carriers published in our books and magazines (other than in third-party adver- tisements) are copyright and may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, in whole or in part, without the prior permission of Elektor in writing. Such written permission must also be obtained before any part of these publications is stored in a retrieval system of any nature. Notwithstanding the above, printed-circuit boards may be produced for private and personal use without prior permission. Limitation of liability Elektor shall not be liable in contract, tort, or otherwise, for any loss or damage suffered by the purchaser whatsoever or howsoever arising out of, or in connexion with, the supply of goods or services by Elektor other than to supply goods as described or, at the option of Elektor, to refund the purchaser any money paid in respect of the goods. Law Any question relating to the supply of goods and services by Elektor shall be determined in all respects by the laws of England. January 2011 SUBSCRIPTION RATES FOR ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION SUBSCRIPTION CONDITIONS The standard subscription order period is twelve months. Standard Plus If a permanent change of address during the subscription United Kingdom & Ireland £51.00 £63.50 period means that copies have to be despatched by a more Surface Mail expensive service, no extra charge will be made. Conversely, Rest of the World £65.00 £77.50 no refund will be made, nor expiry date extended, if a change of address allows the use of a cheaper service. Airmail Rest of the World £82.00 £94.50 Student applications, which qualify for a 20% (twenty per cent) reduction in current rates, must be supported by USA & Canada See www.elektor.com/usa for special offers evidence of studentship signed by the head of the college, school or university faculty. A standard Student Subscription costs £40.80, a Student Subscription-Plus costs £53.30 (UK only). HOW TO PAY Please note that new subscriptions take about four weeks Bank transfer into account no. 40270211 held by Elektor from receipt of order to become effective. International Media BV with The Royal Bank of Scotland, London. Cancelled subscriptions will be subject to a charge of 25% IBAN: GB96 ABNA 4050 3040 2702 11. BIC: ABNAGB2L. (twenty-five per cent) of the full subscription price or £7.50, Currency: sterling (UKP). Please ensure your full name and address whichever is the higher, plus the cost of any issues already gets communicated to us. dispatched. Subsciptions cannot be cancelled after they Cheque sent by post, made payable to Elektor Electronics. We can have run for six months or more. only accept sterling cheques and bank drafts from UK-resident cus- tomers or subscribers. We regret that no cheques can be accepted from customers or subscribers in any other country. Credit card VISA and MasterCard can be processed by mail, email, web, fax and telephone. Online ordering through our website is SSL-protected for your security. January 2011
  • 87. 61002 “Elektor is substance for professionals and those wanting to reach the level. The perfect entry to my studies!” – Christian, 19, freshman – 20%! ount Discount! Disc Electronics at all the right levels Secure a head start in electronics Test & Measurement] with a Student Subscription!* d Analogue Audio Digital [Microcontrollers & Embedde s AUS$ 13.90 - NZ$ 16.90 - SAR 99.95 £ 4.65 ect April 2010 roj wp ne [Microcontrollers 11 & Embedded Analogue cts Audio Digit proje May 2010 al Test & Mea surement 7 new AUS$ 13.90 - NZ$ 16.90 - SAR 99.95 ] £ 4.65 * Only available in UK. Ask for the conditions. age rn Fireflies Digital Test & Measurem [Microcontrollers & s Embedded Analog Audio +p www.elektor.com 50ild & lea with Easy experimenting ent] September 2010 focus on gence Artificial Intellicircuit sim bu www.elekt ulation ✚ Super Robots or.com ts ✚ VisiOLED [MicrocontrolREE ge F EN lers T & Embedded Analogue December 2010 ClouMyths, promises, threa Elektor DSP Rad io Scanner d Altimeter sky isre the ✚ SceptTest & Measurement] y Audio Digital The softw not the lim are librar it £ 4.65 AUS$ 13.90 - NZ$ 16.90 - SAR 99.95 ✚ DIY Fue ✚ EV Charge l Cells ✚ MPPT Reg r ulator Advantages to subscribers -pa LEM 32 PP SU dsPIC Cont ng Tweezers ro Measuri l Board EM 2010 l tools for measuring BEDDED GUIDEprojects Specia R16 Students qualify for a discount of no less than 20% microcontroller 32 pages of Worry -fr compared to the normal price of an annual subscription Elektor Project ee Drilling a hands-o n test ofCas e pipe & wir e loca tors t] Test & Measuremen PCB router Audio DSP Kick Digital A professional R21 off Subscribers get up to 40% discount £ 4.80 sions with optional exten NetWorker An advanced webs erver for small mic on special Elektor products with a micro rocontrollers LED 50-watt Power Heating System Monitorktor.com www.ele No queues, traveling, parking fees or ‘sold out’ opic PC Fan Cardiac Monitor Strobosc ee Your ECG by ZigB Elektor is supplied to your doorstep every month Nixie Tubeeter Thermom Always up to date – read your copy before everyone else p Headphone Am to your ears Music R04 www.elektor.com/subs · Tel. +44 20 8261 4509
  • 88. 61002