Circuit Cellar Ink 37
August 1993

Table of Contents

2


Ken Davidson

Editor's INK

Pavlov Would Be Proud

6


Harv Weiner

New Product News

12


Joseph D. Gradecki

An Introduction to PC-based Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality is one of today's hottest development areas. As usual, the mass media (movies especially) have latched on to the concept and blown it out of proportion. Find out what low-cost VR really is.

Download: PCVRREND.ZIP

20


Mark E. Nurczyk, P.E.

Oscillators Don't, Amplifiers Do!

A problem common to any analog circuit that uses feedback is unwanted oscillations due to an unstable design. Automated tools can help point out a circuit's weak spots and often suggest a course of action.

26


Marc Bumble

Real-world Macintosh

A Mac SCSI interface primer

For all those who think the Macintosh isn't a viable platform for interfacing with the real world, they haven't explored the use of its SCSI bus. Join Marc as he begins to explore the world of Mac-based SCSI.

Download: MACSCSI.ZIP

38


John F. Lenihan

A Parallel Expander for the PC

Have you ever wondered why IBM didn't do it the right way and make the parallel printer port bidirectional? With a few chips and some special software, you can make the PC's printer port into something useful.

Download: PARXPNDR.ZIP

44


Ed Nisley

Firmware Furnace

Absolute Power Corrupts: The '386SX Project Gets a Watchdog

Ed enters the hardware home stretch as he adds a single chip to handle watchdog functions, power monitoring, battery control, and RAM protection. The Firmware Development board is almost ready for action.

Download: FF37.ZIP

56


Jeff Bachiochi

From the Bench

Take a Swipe at Optical ID Cards

Stuck on how to come up with a data input system for identification purposes or logging data? Using off-the-shelf components and your PC's joystick port, Jeff builds an innovative bar code reader.

Download: FTB37.ZIP

62


Tom Cantrell

Silicon Update

In Bed With PCs

What's the best way to keep down both hardware and software costs when developing a product based on an embedded controller? For many, it's to use an IBM PC-compatible board. Find out what's on the market.

70


John Dybowski

Embedded Techniques

Support Your Batteries

Just charge it. The question is, which type. John concludes his series on battery management by discussing several charging techniques using Benchmarq's line of charger chips.

78


Russ Reiss

Patent Talk

81

Advertiser's Index

84


Ken Davidson

ConnecTime -- Excerpts from the Circuit Cellar BBS

96


Steve Ciarcia

Steve's Own INK

Engineer, Design Thyself

FTP Directory for INK 37
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