Circuit Cellar Ink 271
February 2013

Table of Contents

2


CJ Abate

HTML Task Manager

Got Range?

10


CJ Abate

HTML New Product News

19


David Tweed

HTML Test Your EQ - Answers for Issue 270

11

Reader I/O

Letters to the Editor

20


Stuart Ball

Build a Digital Dip Meter

A dip meter is a handy piece of test equipment typically used to check a device's resonant frequency or as a signal source to tune receivers. This article describes how to use a microcontroller to digitize a dip meter's display and explores how to maintain functionality when converting a design from analog to digital.

Download: 271-Ball.zip

26


William Myers
Guo Jie Chin

3-D Paint

A Complete Hardware and Software Package

3-D Paint is a complete hardware and software package that uses free space as a canvas and enables you to draw in 3-D by measuring ultrasonic delays. A standard PC running MATLAB captures your movements and returns them in real time.

Download: 271-Myers-Chin.zip

32


Richard Lord

Digital Camera Controller

Part 3: Build a Generic Front-Panel Board

The first parts of this article series introduced the microcontroller-based Photo-Pal and described its hardware and construction as well as its code, user interface, and timing. Many elements of the Photo-Pal's design can be used to create a generic front-panel board for use with numerous other applications.

Embedded in Thin Slices

37


Bob Japenga

Concurrency in Embedded Systems

Part 5: Designing Robust Systems with Linux

This is the fifth in a multi-part article series examining concurrency in embedded systems. This article discusses some other ways embedded Linux helps you design robust systems with concurrency.

Questions & Answers

41


Nan Price

Engineering and "Pure" Research

An Interview with Colin O'Flynn

Colin O'Flynn is an electrical engineer and graduate student at Dalhousie University who is studying cryptographic systems. He has experience with software programming, RF layout, and PCB and FPGA design. Here Colin provides some background information about his introduction to designing with electronics, his involvement with 802.15.4 wireless communications, and his current projects, including a programmable logic board.

The Consummate Engineer

46


George Novacek

Fault-Tree Analysis

Fault-tree analysis tracks a system event -- most often a failure -- down to its root cause. It also supports the system's safety and reliability assessment by determining the event's probability of occurrence.

Above the Ground Plane

49


Ed Nisley

Arduino Survival Guide

Digital I/O

The digital I/O bits on an Arduino connect it to the real world, but those microcontroller pins have analog properties that many designers neglect. Ed explores how the components inside the microcontroller affect the circuit's operation and shows how to avoid some common problems.

The Darker Side

54


Robert Lacoste

Introduction to Standing Waves

Standing waves are oscillations that remain in a constant position. This article describes a signal generator-based experimental design you can use to see and measure standing waves. It also shows how signal reflectors are used to generate standing waves on a transmission line.

Download: 271-Lacoste.zip

From the Archives

60


Roy Franz

The WiFi SniFi

Sniffing In and Out of Wireless Networks

Are you having trouble locating 802.11b wireless networks? Don't worry. Roy has the perfect solution. The WiFi SniFi is a compact, easy-to-build device that can "sniff" out wireless networks and display the appropriate packet information.

From the Bench

68


Jeff Bachiochi

QR Coding for Engineers

Quick response (QR) codes are 2-D matrix barcodes with fast readability and large storage capacities. This article examines QR formats and describes how to implement a Windows PC program that formats your data into QR code symbols. Options such as error correction, masking, and other modifications are also discussed.

Download: 271-Bachiochi.zip

76

Crossword Puzzle

79

Crossword Puzzle - Answers for Issue 270

80


Catarina Mota
Marcin Jakubowski

Tech the Future

Open-Source Hardware for the Efficient Economy

FTP Directory for INK 271

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