Projects in the February 2000 issue of EPE Magazine

PIC Video Cleaner
At last! PIC-power comes to your aid to enhance your video PICture quality. The Macrovision® copy prevention system can sometimes affect the playback quality of some tapes on certain VCRs. Our constructional project uses a PIC 16F83 (with source code available free from our FTP site here), AD810 video amp and LM1881 sync separator chip to clean up your act! PCB construction features on-board mains transformer and SCART sockets for ease of installation.

In the April 2000 issue (P.283) we said the INIT routine should read
INIT CLRF PORT A
BSF STATUS,PAGE 1
MOVLW B'00000000'
 This configures Port A only.
"The Finder"
Our simple project locates almost anything in the dark! The idea behind The Finder is very simple - it's based on a light-dependent resistor which, when darkness falls, "enables" an l.e.d. blinker, so that you can find your way to, (say) a set of keys hanging on a wall, or a coat, or whatever. The blinker turns off again when ambient light increases again. Nice easy design, perfect for the newcomer to electronics.

Technology Timelines (Pt. 1)
Clive ("Max") Maxfield and Alvin Brown leap aboard a nostalgic rollercoaster and take us through many of the major technological achievements of the past 100 years (starting in the year 1500 actually). Painstakingly researched, this enjoyable series takes you from the pencil to the Pentium® and beyond. Countless archive photographs bring the series to life, starting in Part 1 with Volta, early vacuum tubes, Morse code and wireless telegraph, the telephone and more. Be sure to read this captivating series!

A Morse Code Receiver. The weight (bottom left) was released turning the mechanism and feeding the paper strip from the reel. A small hammer on an electromagnet then made impressions into the paper strip, which could then be "read".

Voltage Monitor
Our "starter project" is a simple voltagemonitoring device with a red and a green l.e.d. thats witch on when the monitored supply voltage falls below separate levels. This can be used to warn of battery condition. Easy stripboard assembly, our single chip design is ideal for beginners.

Teach-In 2000 (Part 4)
No prior knowledge whatsoever is assumed in our new electronics tutorial series. Starting with the basics, with the help of our free interactive software and our practical demos, this month we deal with diodes, rectifiers and LEDs, and we build our computer interface, enabling you to use your PC as a piece of test equipment via its parallel port.

Easy-Typist Tape Controller
Improves keyboard skills, A/V presentations and acts as a script prompter for rehearsals. It allows recorded speech to be played back a few words at a time, halting when a silent pause is detected on the tape (after a few words) and waiting for a prompt from the operator before continuing playback. Works even with the cheapest of microcassette recorders.
Also in this issue: Circuit Surgery continues with our op.amp extravaganza, Interface builds a 12-bit ADC with the AD7896; New Technology Update describes the latest developments in l.e.d. efficiency. Net Work points a finger at the cost of Internet access in the UK and, of course, Ingenuity Unlimited is our showcase of readers' own circuit suggestions.