ra: World:class Magazine! Sati eM Ra sae at ="FEATURES 10 Build Yourself A Windmill Generator, Pt.1 The wind is free but first you have to build a windmill if you want to utlse it. This first article looks at do-it-yourself windmills ~ by Glenn Littleford 74 Satellite C-Band TV Reception: Death By Overload Wireless broadband is great for wireless broadband users but itcan mean blank sereens for C-band satellite TV ~ by Garry Cratt PROJECTS TO BUILD 16 Schoolies 20W Amplifier Module This 20W audio amplifier module sounds great, includes over-temperature and short-circuit protection and is dead easy to build ~ by Peter Smith 28 A Charger For Deep-Cycle 12V Batteries, Pt.2 Second article has the full construction and set-up details for this new high- performance charger ~ by John Clarke 56 Solar-Powered Wireless Weather Station It based on a PICAXE processor and ‘wirelessly’ transmits temperature and humidity data to a receiver up to 200 metres away by Nenad Stojadinovic 63 Bidirectional Motor Speed Controller Easy-to-bulld project can control the speed of 12-24V DC motors in both forward and reverse directions ~ by Frank Crivel 78 Picaxus interruptus Sorry fo interrupt you but the new PICAXE-08M has interrupt capabilities. Here's how it works ~ by Stan Swan SPECIAL COLUMNS 40 Serviceman’s Log Houston, we have a problom — by the TV Serviceman 68 Circuit Notebook (1) Simple Combination Lock; (2) Bare Bones ESR Tester For Capacitors; (3) PICAXE-Based Ultrasonic Rangefinder; (4) Festive-Season Doorbel: (5) Junk: Zan Speed Contolier Solar-Powered Wireless Weather Box Fan Speed Controle Station - Page 34. 82 Vintage Radio The AWA B79 transistor mantel radio ~ by Rodney Champness Motor Speed 2 Publisher's Letter 86 Ask Silicon Chip 4 Mailbag 89 Notes & Errata 53 Product Showcase 94 Market Centre 55 Silicon Chip Weblink 96 Ad Index 81 Order Form siliconchip.com.au DecEMBBR 2004www.siliconchip.com.au Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Leo Simpson, B.Bus., FAICD Production Manager Greg Swain, B.Sc.(Hons.) ‘Technical Editor Peter Smith, Technical Staff John Clarke, B.E.(Elec.) oss Tester Jim Rowe, B.A., B.Sc, VK2ZLO Roader Services ‘Ann Jenkinson Advertising Enquiries Phil Bonedictus Laurence Smith Benedictus Smith Pty Lid Phone (02) 9211 9792 Fax: (02) 9211 0068 1@ benedictus-smith.com Regular Contributors Brendan Akhurst Rodney Champness, VKAUG Jullan Edgar, Dip.T.(Sec.), B.Ed ‘Mike Sherif, B.Sc, VK2YFK Stan Swan SILICON CHP is published 12 timos 1 yoar by Silcon Chip Publications Pry Lid, ACN 003 205 490. ABN 49 (03 208 490 All material copyright ©. No part ofthis publication may be reproduced without the written consent ofthe publisher. Printing: Hannanprint, Noble Park, Victoria. Distribution: Network Distribution Company. Subscription rates: $83.00 per year in Australi Editorial & advertising offices: Unit 8, 101 Dariey St, Mona Vale, NSW 2103, Postal address: PO Box 139, Collaroy Beach, NSW 2097. Phone (02) 9979 5644. Fax (02) 9979 6503, -mall: sichip @siiconchip.com.au "ISSN 1090-2662 * Recommended and maximum price only. PUBLISHER’S LETTER Human RFID tags for medical records ‘The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the way for a Florida company to market implantable chips that would provide easy access to individual medical records. Based on the same technology developed by Advanced Digital Systems for pet micro-chipping, VeriChip involves injecting an RFID transponder into a person's arm using a large veterinary noodle. For those who want to catch up on RFID (radio a frequency identification device) technology, have a look at our articles on the subject in the July 2003 and July 2004 issues of SIL1CON Cri. The VeriChip dovice contains a unique 16-bit code which could point to the individual's medical records in a national database. Such a national database is not yet available in Australia but the equivalent, the ADS data- base, is availabie in the USA to health care providers. ‘No doubt the FDA approval will bring all sorts of cries of horror from civil libertarian groups but most people will probably conclude thet itis a good idea. If you were involved in a sorious accident and arrived at the hospital without any identification, as people sometimes do, wouldn't it be great for the hospital to be able to access your records, check for special medical conditions, allergies, prescribed medicetion and so on? In fact, would it not be a good idea for hospitals generally? When you ware admitted to hospital, you could have the implant and then there would be less chance of getting the wrong medication while you are in a vegetative state, When you leave the hospital, you could possibly opt to haveitremoved but many people would probably elect to keop it ~ for next time, ‘The idea could be introduced at birth. Why not? There could be all sorts of advantages. Your child later goes astray without your knowledge and is later found, Who is he/she? A quick scan and bingo, the authorities know and can take action. ‘And what about people suffering from Alzheimers? A quick chipping job ‘would no doubt provide greater security against wandering and subsoquent treatment when they can no longer communicate. Sure, such a scheme could be greatly extended and have implications far beyond the initial intention. It could be used to keep unruly people out of sporting venues (not a bad idea) or under-age people out of night clubs. Or a whole host of applications which mean that it could become a de facto identity card, Want to apply for a bank account? Simple, just get your arm scanned. It would be a whole lot less troublesome than the current 100-point security check. In fact, it could take place of your credit card, driving licence and Ultimately, this ora similar scheme is probably part of our future. think it could be good idea. Will it increase the power of the State? Not much probably. If you want to be a part of today’s society, itis already pretty dif- ficult to remain invisible to today's huge and all-encompassing databases. ‘And afterall, an RFID tag under the skin would probably make identity theft that much harder for the criminals, Or maybe not. What do you think? Ifyou ‘want more information, just do a Google search for VeriChip. Leo Simpson z ‘SILICON CHIP siliconchip.com.auWa Christmas!| From the gangjat MicroGram Perfect for conference rooms, cafes, VIP lounges etc. Mertrans 114 fan avon adc spcay signe era apt emrenment gets aces conan "wees ater aca ce ten ale ses ff Hoot sppts 2,11) a 802g dal wees tansmsion ode eae tive, era “comenbes, "acon and ote us cheers srs, “hs hp cn ied ave oat wih te Cue eto couats, lig th eal chi any MW natu oer A teal ce pert Indus can be sac oo unt pte te eeu da, epn ests Ue Cal si ‘S108 rove se cures ou Vavetg sales er "hy WBF ate te ESA mort of ny LOD cat 12507 $009 y ames So a tere ream ct tice pre, wen at S scisayion | corde ‘eet comin ac 8 sea oes > 0 US8 pot. Ts 105 poe bs. rear ste, | jw enna ny. 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For curent pricing vsit our webs Pictures aro inci ony Www.mgram.cont.au: [See all these products & more on our website.MAILBAG Energy Meter kit is first class I recently purchased the Energy Meter kit (SILICON Cu, July & August 2004) from Dick Smith Electronics and Imust say what a professional job they have done, Ihave built alot of kits in my time but nothing to rival this one ‘The finished product just looks like it was factory built, It was all so easy. Normally PC board switches have to be mounted @ certain distance off the board so they protrude the correct dis- tance through the front panel and the same with the LCD module. But not with this kit; everything is bolted in and with the spacers supplied, everything came to be an absolutely perfect fit. It was also easy to calibrate, although it takes a long timeas the calibration stepping is very slow. Iis extremely accurate over the entire range and I can highly recom- mend it. Congratulations to StticoN (Cua for the design and to Dick Smith Electronics for their effort in produc- ing a superb kit. Paul Cahill, Rooty Hill, NSW. Voltage warnings are worthwhile 1 would describe myself as a software developer with a passing interest in electronics. Regarding the Publisher's Letter on the topic of high voltage warnings, Ifeel it's a matter of perspective. I think you do a good job of presenting relevant information for your articles. [ don’t know what the alternative is but if you are putting colour codes for resistors in articles then why not the warnings? i have no problems with the PIC projects but there is no way I would have known that the article on the CFL Driver in the same issue (September 2004) was at mains voltage. IF that is the biggest problem in Mr. Hoolhorst’s life then [envy him! On another note, I quietly cringe at how “nerdy” some of the articles sound. I get the feeling that you en- gineors are really in a world of your own. Every time I read “she who must be obeyed" makes me think that any: ‘one who says that deserves a wile that annoying! Another example would be in the September issue—in the article “How ‘To Call Long Distance FREE”, Ross ter says: “Telstra claimed ‘incom- patible infrastructure” What does he mean by “claim”? To ine, that reads “Telstra have said it's not possible and that the Author thinks that Telstra is not telling the truth.” Since he doesn’t say, I would be quietly confident that he is using Optus for his home phone. And since the ISP and the customer have to be using the same telephone network, if they are different, it won't work. ‘Apart from that, it's great magazine = just a little bit too nerdy. Christian Payne, via email. Comment: Ross Tester is not an Optus telephone customer. And as we under stand it, the ISP and the customer do not have to be on the same network. As faras “she who must be obeyed” isconcerned, all wives want their hus- bands malleable, don’t they? And it seems true to us, that people who say that “she must be obeyed” patently don't! Kit feedback on the PIC Programmer I recently purchased a Jaycar C5367, the PIC/serial EEPROM pro- grammer kit, based on the September 2008 article in SILICON Gib. ‘As someone just beginning with PICs, I considered buying a ready- made PIC programmer but chose this kit since it was a fraction of the price of the ready-made ones. As a soft- ware-only person, nervous around hardware, | folt timid at the prospect ofassemblingakit. Assomeone who'd dabbled in (mainly analog) hardware asa kid, | well knew how easy it is to make mistakes at any step of the way and got badly lost, and end up taking ages to correct the problem (if it could be corrected), However, | found this kit the well- engineered PG board, the clearly-le- belled components, the excellently written SILICON CrP article and sup- plementary instructions — to be of the highest quality Construction and testing took me four hours, much less than the 1-2 days I was expecting, To my delight, my first PIC bun/verify succeeded without incident. Something else that was how the Jaycar kit included the expensive 18-pin ZIF socket, plus @ 16F84A PIC, meking it unbeatable value for money. So this note is just to say thanks for saving me an absolute wad and giving me the satisfaction of building this crucial tool myself. I'd recom mend Jaycar kits and SicoN Cite ‘magazine to anyone. David McNab, ‘Auckland, NZ. ‘Thanks for your very enthusiastic en- dorsement David. We know that most people get their kits to work without problems but itis nice when someone pays a compliment like this. It is also worth celebrating the fact that our kit- set suppliers do us proud and a wide range of these Siticon Cu kits are now selling around the world. mpressed me Sprinkler controller circuit has corrosion risk Iwould like to advise anyone who makes the Sprinkler Controller de picted in the Circuit Notebook pages of the October 2004 issue to make sure thoy know where all the valves are lo- cated. This is because there is a strong possibility that thoy will eventually need to rewire them due to corrosion of the wires. previously worked for a company involved in designing irrigation con- trol systoms. We found that it was es- sential to have zero DC on the lines to 4 SiON Chup siliconchip.com.auPen e rn arene Leek ne cad " ESET es Fs ems Pee es er eee ices Pens cern ens pane eae ena tee en Pr ae ie Hint gr ot eee ee ta ria Great meé«tronics THE SUPPLIER TO THE AUSTRALIAN ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY DU ere ac eee eerie)provent electrolysis. This was found the hard way. All the wiring in a park had to be replaced. The reason that 24VAC is used is that it does not cause corrosion. The insulation on ‘tho wires is usually insufficient to stop the problem. The corrosion is duo to water pen- ‘trating the plastic insulation when the cable is buried. It usually takes six months or more to happen. If all the wiring is above ground or in wa- terproof conduits, then the problem should not occur. With the PIGAXE being so easy to ‘use, [hope many more readers will sond in circuits and programs so that others can benefit from their ideas. Colin Carpenter, ‘Mosman Park, WA. Big wrap for valve preamp Tjust wanted to congratulate Stu CON Gut and Jim Rowe on the Valve nae @ ements We have the best value, brightest LEDs available in Australia! Check these out: Luxeon 1 and 5 watt LEDs. All colours available, with or without attached optics, as low as $10 each Lumileds Supertlux LEDs These are 7.6mm square and can be driven at up to SOMA continuously. ‘Red and amber: $2 each Blue, green and cyan: $3 each Asian Supertiux LEDs Same size and currents the Lumileds Units, almost the same light output, but a fraction of the price. + Red and amber: Just 50 cents each! “Blue, green, aqua and white: $1 each, Go to www.ata.org.au and check ‘out our webshop or call us on (03)9988 9311. Preamp for HiFi (November 2003). I have just been listening to it and I must say I'm amazed. Thad never heard valves before and Thad always been curious but until now they had been too expensive to take the chance on. Your valve preamp has made it affordable to try the “valve sound” and I must say the sound lam getting from my hifi system now is superb. ‘This valve preamp isso musical and an absolute joy to listen to! Ireally am taken aback at just how much better sounding this preamp is compared to any solid state preamp I have had. It has made my entire CD collection sound more musical. I don't care that valves aren't technically perfect; the sound is all that matiers and this preamp is a winner. Well done and thank you! Rob, via email. Comment: Sound’s musical, eh? Now that’s a worry. Wide-screen digital TV is a mess In December 2003, I wrote regarding my thoughts on the current state of Digital TV broadcasting in Australia. Recently, Aldi started selling their own “Medion” brand digital set-top boxes for the princely sum of $169. I couldn't believe this low-cost Chinese- made offering: you just plug it in and it works! All the local channels were already tuned in; all I had to do was tell it where I lived and it automati- cally sorted out the program guide, Jocal time and so on, You even get an on-screen signal strongth moter to help you set up the antenna! The digital channels came ‘booming in! So now it seems I'm get- ting Digital TV as advertised. If they can just do something about the fact that most of the time all I'm getting is five copies of the existing analog channels, I'll be ecstatic! Interestingly, unlike the Thomson units, the Aldi receiver actually does something with the HD transmissions instead of th screen just going blank. ‘You get a series of “stills” which seem to have more resolution than the “live” SD transmissions, although I know that doesn’t really make sense on an SDTV. ‘The whole HD/widescreen thing seems to be going off the rails some- ‘what, particularly in the USA. Con- trary to what was predicted, sales of widescreen sets soem to have gone off the boil. Most of the newer lerge- screen TV sets I've looked at recently havebeen standard 4:3, including one “HD-ready” Philips 68cm 100Hz job for $999, They seem to have somewhat lost the plot with large screens. The Philips set offers a choice of 625-line 50Hz progressive scan, 625-line 100Hz in- terlace, or 1080/1250 line 5OFz inter- lace. On 1080/1250, you can hardly see the horizontal scanning lines but the tube's vertical stripe pattern is consid- erably coarser than even the plain old 625-line horizontal line structure! “HD ready"? Ready for what? Troubles, the finer the pitch, the more electrons that ‘wind up simply heating up the shadow ‘mask, and the more power consumed, tho hoftier the scanning circuitry has to be and so on. Most manufacturers have taken the easy way out. Very few plasma screens offer true HD 1920 x 1080 resolution; in fact a lot of models have only “VGA” 640 x 460 resolution (derived from the visible picture area of ordinary NTSC transmissions). Meanwhile large-screen LCD dis- plays are racing up on the inside, of- foring lower cost, lighter weight, less fragility and lower power consump- tion, The images aren't yet quite up to current plasma or CRT standard but I doubt many people would notice the Aifferonce. What's really interesting is that many of them are old-fashioned 4:3, not widescreen 16:9! This highlights another major stuff- up. As one of your other correspond cents has pointed out, if you set your Digital receiver to 16:9 letterbox, a lot of the time you simply wind up witha three-quarter sized 4:3 image, since the stations routinely transmit 4:3 sourced material “vertically letterboxed”! ‘Worse still is vertical-letterboxing of already horizontally-letterboxed SD ‘material! This is because the authorities blithely assumed that everyone would by now own 16:9 TV sets. What should 8 SiucON CitP siliconchip.com.auhave happened was amandate that all, digital sct-top boxos be fitted with a 16: 9 “flag” signal output and all new 4:3 ‘TV sets set up to switch automatically, from this. Ah well hindsight, the only perfect sciencet Keith Walters, via email. Compact fluorescents are still worthwhile Your comments regarding CFLs are interesting, especially in regard to the their claimed lifetime and your less than satisfactory experience. However your comment that they're “not worth ‘acandle” issurely opinion taking prec- edence over simple facts. A $15 price differential will buy 100kWh of energy (at 15c perkWh) and with 60 watts energy reduction, the unit would need a life of about 1660 hours to become cost neutral (about 4.5 hours per day). Subsequent operation will be a small return on investment, which is more than can be claimed for an incandescent globe. Ihave had a CFL installed in a study for over two years and would easily spend 4-5 hours per day with the light on. It would be reasonable to estimate over 3000 hours operation, | understand they are not well suited to highly intermittent use, which may account for the failure rates you are experiencing although your suggestion to validate claims is well made. With the proliferation of inefficient down-lights — and given that if just 100,000 households substituted one CFL in a 4+ hour, 75W situation, re- sulting in a saving of 8760MWh por annum ~ it is not sufficient to draw a conclusion that CFLs are a waste of money. Economic decisions need to consider all forms of impact, both on ‘our pockets and the finite reserves na- ture provides and entrusts us with. Roland Denholm, via email. CFL light output not evenly distributed When compact fluorescent lights ‘were first introduced they seemed like @ good idea but at over $30 they ‘were just not an economic proposition. Thoy have boon greatly improved in design and lowered in price but as you point out in your Publisher's Letter in siliconchip.com.au the August 2004 issue, they have not proved to be anything like as reliable as claimed. Thave always been puzzled by the apparently low light output compared with what is claimed. For instance, I have a 20W lamp which is said to give the same light output as a 100W incandescent lamp. Prompted by En- ergy Australia’s offer of a free lamp, I decided to investigate the disparity a Little more closely. The CFL does indeed emit almost as much light as the incandescent but only in a narrow plane perpendicular tothe axis of the tube. Away from that plane, however, the light output rap- idly drops off to almost zero on the lamp axis. The incandescent, on the other hand, emits light in an almost uniform sphere, apart, of course, from the region of the base. As a result, I estimate that the total light output of @ 20W CFL is about equivalent to a 40W incandescent rather than that of a 100W unit as claimed. The dispar- ity can be overcome in an industrial situation toa large extent by mounting the CFL horizontally in a reflector but this is generally not practicable in a domestic situation. ‘While there is still a halving of the power input, a 40W incandescent cannot be regarded as producing a useful light output in most domestic situations. I did not take up Energy Australia’s offer! ‘Alan March, via email. DC plugpacks that bite Ovor the last few yoars, more and more equipment is powered by plug- packs and as a result you end up with extension boards full of the things. I ‘am a part-time musician and I have a number of guitar effects units which are all powered by plugpacks. Thave boen noticing that when 1 am patching various signal leads, sometimes I get a slight belt (shock). My trusty multimoter tells me there is 9V DC across the plugpack output plug, just as you would expect. But it also tells me there is about 100-110V AC present as well. When I plug the plugpack into any effects unit, then connect a standard guitar lead to the output of the effects unit, when Imoas- ure from the shaft of the jack to earth, Atmel’s AVR, from JED in Australia JED has designed a range of single board computers and modules as a way of using the AVR without SMT board design ‘The AVRS7O module (above) is a way of using an ATmegat28 CPU on a user base board without having tolay ou the inticate, surface-mounted surounds ofthe CPU, and then having to manufacture your board on an SMT robotlin. Instead you simply layout fa square for four 0.1" spaced socket strips ‘and plug in our pre-tested module. The ‘module has the crystal, rosette, AVA-ISP programming header (and an optional STAG ICE pad), a8 well a programming signal switching. Foralitte extra, woloada DS1305 TO, crystal and Li battery underneath, ‘which uses SPI and port G ‘See JED's wiv site Tor a datasheet, |AVR573 Single Board Computer| This board uses the AVR570 module and ‘adds 20 An,/Dig. inputs, 12 FET outs, LCD/ Kd, 2x88232, 1x8485, 1-Wire, ponerreg, ete. See wivwjedmicro.com.aulavi.him $330 PC-PROM Programmer ‘This programmer plugs into a PC printer port and reads, wiles and edits any 28 or '32-pin PROM. Gomes with plug-pack, cable ‘and software. JED Microprocessors Pty Ltd 173 Boronia Rd, Boronia, Victoria, 3155 Ph. 03 9762 3568, Fax 03 9762 5499 www. jedmicro.com.au Decemmen 2008 7that is when I soe the high AC voltage. I get a shock when I am grounded by touching the case of my power ampli- fier and the jack when I am patching units together. Everything works OK but this does not seem normal. Thave a number of plugpacks that do this. Also, my HP Deskjet 840C is run off an 18V plugpack, When I plug the parallel printer cable into the com- puter, you can see a spark as the shell of the printer cable hits the earthed PG case. Again, Ican measure a (rela- tively) high AC voltage to earth, even though the DC output is spot on. ‘What is going on here? Do I have a wiring problem in my house? Ihave an earth-leakage gadget back at the fuse box but it never trips. ‘Neil Macpherson, via email. Comment: it does seem as though this problem is more pronounced with switchmode plugpacks. They seem to ‘measure around 100VAG above Barth compared to 5-10VAC with typical conventional plugpacks (measured with a typical digital multimeter which has 10MQ. input impedance). This voltage leakage is caused by the intrinsic circuit capacitance between mains Active and the output lead and this will naturally tend to be higher in switchmode plugpacks which do not contain a conventional 50Hz transformer. Even though this may lead to the occasional “tingle” they all seem safe enough and all should have passed the usual compliance tests. Having that, we would not be inclined to connect any plugpack to equipment while itis switched on ~ that seems to be asking for damaged circuitry and the shocks you experience. Mobile phone numbers unknown agree with most of your comments in the Publisher's Letter in the Novem- ber 2004 issue, about fixed telephone lines but there seems to be a basic shortcoming with mobile phones. How do you find another person's mobile phone number? It is easy to find land-line phone numbers via the “White or Yellow Pages” but there is no equivalent for mobiles. I understand that it is prob ably impossible to provide one which is up-to-date but there doesn’t seem to be a possible solution. My observations and enquiries indicate that you have to know some- ‘one who can give you the number; in other words, a “grapevine”. [also get theimpression that most young people use mobiles to talk with people they probably see everyday. Inthe case of builders and suchlike, it seams to be common to use the Sen- sis directory and call their land-line which then re-directs the call to a mobile ~ you still need the land-line to start the process. Ithink it would be a time-consuming task to usea mobile to look up the Sensis directory to find a land-line phone number, on a very small screen, Telstra used to advertise how you could access the internet via your mobile but Ithink they havegiven up promoting such a difficult task. Ron Sanders, via email. ‘Warnings on 240VAC not too cautious Are you being too cautious with your warnings with 240VAC equip- ment? (Publisher's Letter, September 2004)? I don’t think so. The first thing earned to prevent electric shocks is never to make any assumptions. Watch any experienced electrician approach a faulty piece of equipment: even though itwill have been tuned offand checked with a voltage probe, habit will still force the wise to initially touch it with the back of the hand to avoid a reflexed grasp if shocked, The editorial refers to 240V mains Active/Neutral transposition. Let me briefly tell you how I nearly lost my life to a situation like this. I trained and quelified as an e nin South Arica and after migrating to Australia, became employed in the electronics industry and then the entertainment industry. Participating on a film shoot back in the late 70s before earth leakage detectors were in wide use and well before tagging and testing for extension cords was mandatory on film sets and work sites, I was moving live redhead lighting stands around a film set. (On about the tenth attempt to im- prove the lighting which was by this time a rats nest of multiple extension cords plugged into multiple distribu- tion boxes, I grabbed hold of two light- ing stands, one in each hand to move them to a now position for yet another take. This was very nearly the death of me. found myself witha lamp in each hand and the full 240VAC across my chest and heart. Frozen and unable to let go for what seemed an age, [finally ‘managed to hurl myself free of one of the stands, It felt like hours but I am told it was more like seconds before I managed to release, ‘After regaining my composure and wanting to find someone to be the fo- cus for the string of obscenities I had been practising, I set out to investi- gate how the hell the situation had become that dangerous. The studio boss advised me that all the lights and extension cords had been tested prior to the shoot. Testing in those days prior to more stringent regula- tions meant “plug them in and see if the light works”. I began dismantling and testing the lighting rg. ‘What was very nearly my demise was a combination of two lights on metal stands with frames correctly terminated to the earth pin, One ex- tension cord was correctly terminated whilea second extension cord had Ac- tiveand Neutral transposed. The third extension cord was the killer; it had Neutral and Earth transposed, The Neutral/Earth transposition in the absonco of earth leakage detec- tors would appear to work properly; ie, “the light would come on” and it would deliver the full 240AC from ‘Active to Earth, The Neutral/Active ‘transposition would have passed the same cursory test. The second and third extension cords produced the potentially lethal trap. So are you being too cautious with your diligent warnings? Not from my experience you aren't! Brian Shirley, via email. Correction: Victor Barker's letter on page 6 of the November issue made reference toa degausser circuit involv- inga 150nF charged by 3300 resistor. ‘This value should have boon 330k. 8 SILICON CaP siliconchip.com.au2anui-20Vidv ery th x10 probe BitScope and your PC provide an array of Virtual Instruments Pay ‘Bitscepe Pocket Analyzer Blog chemels,2 analog cramnels. Single USB cable to your PC Auto senses an extemal sp ual channel capture Logie Pattern gonrator 3 RM Rell.) The new generation Scope | for the age of microelectronics. Turn your PC or NoteBook into a powerful Scope and Logic Analyzer! ‘See inside your circuit in the analog and digital domains at the same time to ‘make vacking down those elusive real-time bugs much easier Pocket Analyzer combines a high speed sample-synchronized storage scope land logic analyzer with @ programmable waveform and logic pattern generator Also included Is an integrated real-time spectrum analyzer and powered "Smart POD" expansion Interface so you've got all bases coveredt About the same size and weight as a Po‘ needs no bulky accessories. I's the perf ‘debug solution 3t PC, this USB powered BitScope Tow cost "go anyunere® test and rom POD VB Cemoressed data ransmistion removes pow oad trom USE Simple ASCI conto! protocol for use wh unpowered Rube IK AOMSIs Scope Serpting Language __‘Sunnles un to SOOMA via PO +RaD + Edueation + Robotics + Lab Scope + Fast DAQ + Service + Debug Btscope Pocket Analyze" uses Nighy intgrated Sotace Moun technology to provide functionally you woud expec fom 809 hitecture means new functionality can be added via soft Fox custom Data 1 Sly to your epreacsh www cone com | _Bitscope DSO 1.2 sofware for Windows and Linux FUME A copeLive off the grid and need to generate your own power? Or maybe you have lots of space and you'd just like to take advantage of that old adagef*the wind is free...” Part 1 - Looking at Options by Glenn LittlefordThis windmill uses a small stepper motor from a computer floppy drive to charge nicad batteries. Iternative energy generation A® Bshoios sof te Rieu, ‘ith many domestic installa~ tion options on the market, including But the initial cost of a “free” power i center ‘many years, if ever, to pay for such an installation. Tris ericls wolookat anc tend in home-made windmills — and next aa theme alkew goneaaatil your own 300W windmill. Home-made wind generators have been around for decades, with designs as varied as the people who build them. But why would you build your oracle Pie cat arent ods oe Parkes ana ofa al eaplabisena yatialy sanieatas free. ee ‘You can't make your own solar cells at homo; they need specialised equip: Sate Toten eae build your own wind generator for a Scion of ecaief dal pees sized solar array or commercial wind Opposite: a motor from a Fisher & Paykel washing machine provides ‘up to 300W in this 2-metre diameter windmill siliconchip.c Another advantage ofa wind genera- tors it will generate power whenever there is a breeze, night or day! There are downfalls to wind gen- eration. The wind is not as reliable as solar energy; windmills need oc- casional maintenance; and location can be a problem. (A 10m high tower with a 2m diam- eter windmill in your typical suburban backyard might be frowned on by your neighbors and local authorities). The best option for the serious home power generation installation is a combination of solar and wind. There will be days of full sunshine and not the slightest hint of a breeze, or days with heavy rain clouds and strong winds, Ifyou have the space and a location with good year-round winds, then home-made windmill could be a vi- able alternative to solar cells. Building your own windmill requires no special abilities or equipment. All you need are some basic handyman skills, a fow tools and the time to assemble and experiment. Using the wind ‘There is alot of enorgy in the wind, Power is proportional to tho square of speed, so a 40km/h wind has four times the power of a 20km/h breeze. Asanexample, theoretical perfect- ly efficient windmill which produces 200W in a 20km/h breeze would rise to 800W in a 40km/h wind and amas- sive 6400W in a 80km/h storm gust (if it survives!), But what sort of windmills are we talking about? First up, a fow simple rules about windmills: they behave in a very simi: larway to your typical car engine with apowerand torque curveand different speeds for maximum power or torque. Ideally, you need to operate your wind- ‘mill at its peak power output. The number of blades and their size also affects the speed, torque and power for a given wind velocity: MORE BLADES = less speed, less power but more torque, perfect for pumping water. LESS BLADES = more speed. LARGER PROPELLOR DIAMETER = less speed but more power. 1wo other factors to considerare tur bulenceand wind-shadow. Turbulence can be caused by the disrupted wind from one blade to the next, oranything up-wind of the windmill - and will have a big effect on efficiency. Wind shadow is the effect the wind- mill mast has on the propeller as each blade passes the mas shadow causes a sudden pressure change be- Decsmogn 2004 11‘Windmills need to be clear of any turbulence to run effectively, hhind the propeller blade and rosults in vibration. As a rule, a 3-bladed propeller is the best compromise between power, torqueand speed. A 2-blade propeller will run faster but there are dramatic vibration problems with 2-blade wind- mills during wind direction changos and they are therefore not recom mended. A typical home-made wind generator with a 3-blado propeller diameter of 2m will spin from 100 to 600rpm and is capable of generating over 500W. Windmill blades can be made from just about anything - wood, stool, fiberglass, carbon fibre, ete . . . I'v even son @ windmill using eight wheelbarrows! Wood is the most common material for the DIY handy- ‘man, its cheap, easily formed, strong and flexible (remember, trees are very ‘good at bending in the wind without breaking). ‘The profile of a well-designed wind. mill blade resembles an aircraft wing, giving lift on the trailing edge. There also needs to be a slight twist along the length of the blade. ‘The blade tip is traveling much faster than the part of the blade closest to the centre of the propeller, so needs to have less angle of attack. You also need to consider tip spood. ‘A 2-meter diameter propellerspinning at 500rpm has a tip speed of 188kmh, Any airborno dust or unfortunate insects will be very abrasive at this spoed. For windmill blades made from soft material, such as timber, a layer of wear-resistant material—eg, aluminum tape or fibreglass - should be applied to the leading edge. Generator So much for the propeller. What can we use for a generator on a wind- mill? 12 SILICON CHP ‘Thore are several options but a com- mon car altemator is not one of them, at least not! without modificiation (most beginners to homo-mado wind generation try to use a surplus car al- ternator, without much success). While cheap, readily available and capable of producing over 600W, a car alternator needs to be spun at over 2000rpm before it will generate any useful power. ‘A windmill large enough to drive ‘an alternator to its full power capacity ‘would not spin fast enough (the larger and more powerful the windmill, the slower it will spin), so you would need ‘@ mechanism to step up the windmill speed to over 2000rpm. ‘You could use a gear set, chain or The iconic Aussie outback windmill: bolt drive but these have disadvan- tages, including noise, unreliability, poor starting and reduced efficiency. You need a generator that will produce power at low speed, which is why most successful home-made windmills use permanent magnet alternators. Large Permanent Magnet DC Mo- tors, like those used in electric wheel chairs and golf buggies are one option. Unfortunately, these are expensive, have relatively low output when used as a generator and nood to have the bbrushos replaced from time to time. Modified Car Alternators: some success can be achieved by replacing the standard armature with a new ‘machined armature containing perma- Its ig and lots of blades for lots of torg great for pumping water but not much use when it comes to generating power! siliconchip.com.au