This book is intended for electronics enthusiasts and professionals alike, who want a much deeper understanding of the incredible technology conquests over the pre-digital decades that created video. It details evolution of analogue video electronics and technology from the first electro-mechanical television, through advancements in Cathode Ray Tubes, transistor circuits and signal processing, up to the latest analogue, colour-rich TV, entertainment devices and calibration equipment. Key technological advances that enabled monochrome video and, eventually, colour are explained. The importance, compromises and techniques of maintaining crucial backward legacy compatibilities are described. The generation, signal processing and playback of analogue video signals in numerous capture, display, recording and playback devices together with operating principles and practices are examined. Technical and, often, political merits and deficiencies of key national and international video standards are highlighted. Several formats are shown to win and ultimately to co-exist. This book begins at fairly basic levels; concepts are introduced with human physiological perceptions of light and colour explained. This leads to the subject matter of luminance and chrominance; their equations and the circuits to process. There is full, detailed analysis of waveform shapes and timings inside video equipment and relevant popular connections e.g. S-video. Several analogue video projects which you can build yourself are also included in this book; with schematics, circuit board layouts and calibration steps to help you obtain the best results. The book makes use of many colour pages where the subject matter demands it (e.g. test cards). If you really want a deeper understanding of analogue video then this book is for you!

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Quite unintentionally a one-page story on an old Heathkit tube tester in the December 2004 edition of Elektor magazine spawned dozens of ‘Retronics’ tales appearing with a monthly cadence, and attracting a steady flow of reader feedback and contributions to the series. Since launching his Retronics columns, Elektor Editor Jan Buiting has never been short of copy to print, or vintage equipment to marvel at. This book is a compilation of about 80 Retronics installments published between 2004 and 2012. The stories cover vintage test equipment, prehistoric computers, long forgotten components, and Elektor blockbuster projects, all aiming to make engineers smile, sit up, object, drool, or experience a whiff of nostalgia. To reflect that our memories are constantly playing tricks on us, and honoring that “one man’s rubbish is another man’s gem”, the tales in the book purposely have no chronological order, and no bias in favor of transistor or tube, microprocessor or discrete part, audio or RF, DIY or professional, dry or narrative style. Although vastly diff erent in subject matter, all tales in the book are told with personal gusto because Retronics is about sentiment in electronics engineering, construction and repair, be it to reminisce about a 1960s Tektronix scope with a cleaning lady as a feature, or a 1928 PanSanitor box for dubious medical use. Owners of this book are advised to not exceed one Retronics tale per working day, preferably consumed in the evening hours under lamp light, in a comfortable chair, with a piece of vintage electronic equipment close and powered up.

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Learn to interface and program hardware devices in a wide range of useful applications, using ARM7 microcontrollers and the C programming language. Examples covered in full detail include a simple LED to a multi-megabyte SD card running the FAT file system. Features of this book Build prototype circuits on breadboard or Veroboard and interface to ARM microcontrollers. A 32-bit ARM7 microcontroller is used in interfacing and software examples. Interfacing principles apply to other ARM microcontrollers and other non-ARM microcontrollers as well. Example programs are written in the C programming language. Use only free or open source software. Download and install all programming tools from the Internet. Template project files are provided for easy project creation. Hardware Interface to LEDs, transistors, optocouplers, relays, solenoids, switches, keypads, LCD displays, seven segment displays, DC motors, stepper motors, external analogue signals using the ADC, RS232, RS-485, TWI, USB, SPI and SD memory cards. Software Once hardware has been interfaced to a microcontroller, software must be written to control the hardware. You will learn how to write programs to operate externally interfaced hardware devices, use timers and interrupts. Also learn how to port FAT file system code for use with an SD memory card, program the PWM to produce an audio sine wave, program the PWM to speed control a DC motor and more. A chapter on more advanced ARM microcontrollers is included with an overview of some of the newest ARM microcontrollers and their features.

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A Small Basic Approach There are many different PC programming languages available on the market. Some have beautiful names; some have easy to use development tools. Others have incredible power. They all have one thing in common: they assume that you have, or want to have, a knack for technology and difficult to read commands. In this book we take a practical approach to programming. We assume that you simply want to write a PC program, and write it quickly. Not in a professional environment, not in order to start a new career, but for plain and simple fun... or just to get a task done. Therefore we use Small Basic. You will have an application up and running in a matter of minutes. You will understand exactly how it works and be able to write text programs, graphical user interfaces, and advanced drivers. It is so simple; you don't even need to be an adult!

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If you enjoy DIY electronics, projects, software and robots, you’ll find this book intellectually stimulating and immediately useful. With the right parts and a little guidance, you can build robot systems that suit your needs more than overpriced commercial systems can. 20 years ago, robots based on simple 8-bit processors and touch sensors were the norm. Now, it’s possible to build multi-core robots that can react to their surroundings with intelligence. Today’s robots combine sensor readings from accelerometers, gyroscopes and computer vision sensors to learn about their environments. They can respond using sophisticated control algorithms and they can process data both locally and in the cloud. This book, which covers the theory and best practices associated with advanced robot technologies, was written to help roboticists, whether amateur hobbyist or professional, take their designs to the next level. As will be seen, building advanced applications does not require extremely costly robot technology. All that is needed is simply the knowledge of which technologies are out there and how best to use each of them. Each chapter in this book will introduce one of these different technologies and discuss how best to use it in a robotics application. On the hardware side, we’ll cover microcontrollers, servos, and sensors, hopefully inspiring you to design your own awe-inspiring, next-generation systems. On the software side, we’ll cover programming languages, debugging, algorithms, and state machines. We’ll focus on the Arduino, the Parallax Propeller, Revolution Education PICAXE and projects I’ve with which I’ve been involved, including the TBot educational robot, the PropScope oscilloscope, the 12Blocks visual programming language, and the ViewPort development environment. In addition, we’ll serve up a comprehensive introduction to a variety of essential topics, including output (e.g. LEDs, servo motors), and communication technologies (e.g. infrared, audio), that you can use to develop systems that interact to stimuli and communicate with humans and other robots. To make these topics as accessible as possible, handy schematics, sample code and practical tips regarding building and debugging have been included. Hanno Sander Christchurch, New Zealand

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Mastering Surface Mount Technology takes you on a crash course in techniques, tips and know-how to successfully introduce surface mount technology in your workflow. Even if you are on a budget you too can jumpstart your designs with advanced fine pitch parts. Besides explaining methodology and equipment, attention is given to SMT parts technologies and soldering methods. In a step by step way, several projects introduce you to handling surface mount parts and the required skills to successfully build SMT assemblies. Many practical tips and tricks are disclosed that bring surface mount technology into everyone's reach without breaking the bank.

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This book is intended as a highly-practical guide for Hobbyists, Engineers and Scientists wishing to build measurement and control systems to be controlled by a local or remote Personal Computer running the Linux operating system. Both hardware and software aspects of designing typical embedded systems are covered in detail with schematics, code listings and full descriptions. Numerous examples have been designed to show clearly how straightforward it can be to create the interfaces between digital and analog electronics, with programming techniques for creating control software for both local and remote systems. Hardware developers will appreciate the variety of circuits, including a novel, low cost modulated wireless link and will discover how using Matlab® overcomes the need for specialist programming skills. Software developers will appreciate how a better understanding of circuits plus the freedom offered by Linux to directly control at the register level enables them to optimize related programs. There is no need to buy special equipment or expensive software tools in order to create embedded projects covered in this book. You can build such quality systems quickly using popular low-cost electronic components and free distributed or low-cost software tools. Some knowledge of basic electronics plus the very basics of C programming only is required. Many projects in this book are developed using Matlab® being a very popular worldwide computational tool for research in engineering and science. The book provides a detailed description of how to combine the power of Matlab® with practical electronics. With an emphasis on learning by doing, readers are encouraged by examples to program with ease; the book provides clear guidelines as to the appropriate programming techniques “on the fly”. Complete and well-documented source code is provided for all projects. If you want to learn how to quickly build Linux-based applications able to collect, process and display data on a PC from various analog and digital sensors, how to control circuitry attached to a computer, then even how to pass data via a network or control your embedded system wirelessly and more – then this is the book for you! Features of this Book Use the power, flexibility and control offered only by a Linux operating system on a PC. Use a free, distributed downloadable GNU C compiler Use (optional) a low-cost Student Version of Matlab®. Use low-cost electronic sub-assemblies for projects. Improve your skills in electronics, programming, networking and wireless design. A full chapter is dedicated to controlling your sound card for audio input and output purposes. Program sound using OSS and ALSA. Learn how to combine electronic circuits, software, networks and wireless technologies in the complete embedded system.

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Mastering the I²C Bus takes you on an exploratory journey of the I²C Bus and its applications. Besides the Bus protocol, plenty of attention is given to the practical applications and designing a stable system. The most common I²C compatible chip classes are covered in detail. Two experimentation boards are available that allow for rapid prototype development. These boards are completed by a USB to I²C probe and a software framework to control I²C devices from your computer. All samples programs can be downloaded from the 'Attachments/Downloads' section on this page. Projects built on Board 1: USB to I²C Interface, PCA 9534 Protected Input, PCA 9534 Protected Output, PCA 9553 PWM LED Controller, 24xxx EEPROM Module, LM75 Temperature Sensor, PCA8563 Real-time Clock with Battery Backup, LCD and Keyboard Module, Bus Power Supply. Projects built on Board 2: Protected Input, Protected Output, LM75 Temperature Sensor, PCF8574 I/O Board, SAA1064 LED Display, PCA9544 Bus Expander, MCP40D17 Potentiometer, PCF8591 AD/DA, ADC121 A/D Converter, MCP4725 D/A Converter, 24xxx EEPROM Module.

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Whether you are an electronics enthusiast or engineering professional, this book provides the reader with an introduction to the use of the CadSoft’s EAGLE PCB design software package. EAGLE is a user-friendly, powerful and affordable software package for the efficient design of printed circuit boards. It offers the same power and functionality to all users, at a smaller cost than its competitors. A free version of EAGLE is available to enthusiasts for their own use. EAGLE can be used on the main computing platforms including: Microsoft Windows (XP, Vista or Windows 7); Linux (based on kernel 2.6 or above) and Apple Mac OS X (Version 10.6 or higher). Any hardware that supports these software platforms will run the EAGLE application. The book is intended for anyone who wants an introduction to the capabilities of EAGLE. The reader may be a novice at PCB design or a professional wanting to learn about EAGLE, with the intention of migrating from another CAD package. This book will quickly allow you to: obtain an overview of the main modules of EAGLE: the schematic editor; layout editor and autorouter in one single interface; learn to use some of the basic commands in the schematic and layout editor modules of EAGLE; apply your knowledge of EAGLE commands to a small project; learn more about some of the advanced concepts of EAGLE and its capabilities; understand how EAGLE relates to the stages of PCB manufacture; create a complete project, from design through to PCB fabrication. The project discussed in the book is a popular, proven design from the engineering team at Elektor. After reading this book while practicing some of the examples, and completing the projects, the reader should feel confident about taking on more challenging endeavors.

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RFID technology has conquered many areas in which barcodes, magnetic strips and contact smartcards were used previously. Everyday applications, such as electronic ticketing, access cards, debit cards and electronic identity documents would not be possible without this technology. MIFARE is the most widely used RFID technology, and this book provides a practical and comprehensive introduction to it. Among other things, the initial chapters cover physical fundamentals, relevant standards, RFID antenna design, security considerations and cryptography. The complete design of a reader’s hardware and software is described in detail. The reader’s firmware and the associated PC software support programming using any .NET language. The specially developed PC program, “Smart Card Magic.NET”, is a simple development environment that supports sending commands to a card at the click of a mouse, as well as the ability to create C# scripts. Alternatively, one may follow all of the examples using Visual Studio 2010 Express Edition. Finally, the major smart card reader API standards are introduced. The focus is on programming contactless smartcards using standard PC/SC readers using C/C++, Java and C#.

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Computer vision is probably the most exciting branch of image processing, and the number of applications in robotics, automation technology and quality control is constantly increasing. Unfortunately entering this research area is, as yet, not simple. Those who are interested must first go through a lot of books, publications and software libraries. With this book, however, the first step is easy. The theoretically founded content is understandable and is supplemented by many practical examples. Source code is provided with the specially developed platform-independent open source library IVT in the programming language C/C++. The use of the IVT is not necessary, but it does make for a much easier entry and allows first developments to be quickly produced. The authorship is made up of research assistants of the chair of Professor Ruediger Dillmann at the Institut für Technische Informatik (ITEC), Universitaet Karlsruhe (TH). Having gained extensive experience in image processing in many research and industrial projects, they are now passing this knowledge on. Among other subjects, the following are dealt with in the fundamentals section of the book: Lighting, optics, camera technology, transfer standards, camera calibration, image enhancement, segmentation, filters, correlation and stereo vision. The practical section provides the efficient implementation of the algorithms, followed by many interesting applications such as interior surveillance, bar code scanning, object recognition, 3-D scanning, 3-D tracking, a stereo camera system and much more.

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Microcontrollers have become an indispensable part of modern electronics. They make things possible that vastly exceed what could be done previously. Innumerable applications show that almost nothing is impossible. There’s thus every reason to learn more about them, but that raises the question of where to find a good introduction to this fascinating technology. The answer is easy: this Microcontroller Basics book, combined with the 89S8252 Flash Board project published by Elektor Electronics. However, this book offers more than just a basic introduction. It clearly explains the technology using various microcontroller circuits and programs written in several different programming languages. Three microcontrollers from the 8051 family are used in the sample applications, ranging from the simple 89C2051 to the AN2131, which is designed to support USB applications. The programming tools include assemblers, Basic-52 and BASCOM-51, and several C compilers. Every reader can thus find the programming environment most suitable to his or her needs. In the course of the book, the reader gradually develops increased competence in converting his or her ideas into microcontroller circuitry. All of the sample programs can be downloaded from the Elektor Electronics website or the author’s website. That has the added advantage that the latest versions are always available.

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The software simulation of gauges, control-knobs, meters and indicators which behave just like real hardware components on a PC’s screen is known as virtual instrumentation. In this book, the Delphi program is used to create these mimics and PIC based external sensors are connected via a USB/RS232 converter communication link to a PC. Detailed case studies in this Book include a virtual compass displayed on the PC’s screen, a virtual digital storage oscilloscope, virtual -50 to +125 degree C thermometer, and FFT sound analyser, a joystick mouse and many examples detailing virtual instrumentation Delphi components. Arizona’s embedded microcontrollers – the PIC's are used in the projects and include PIC16F84A, PIC16C71, DSPIC30F6012A, PIC16F877, PIC12F629 and the PIC16F887. Much use is made of Microchip’s 44 pin development board (a virtual instrument ‘engine)’, equipped with a PIC16F887 with an onboard potentiometer in conjunction with the PIC’s ADC to simulate the generation of a variable voltage from a sensor/transducer, a UART to enable PC RS232 communications and a bank of 8 LED's to monitor received data is also equipped with an ISP connector to which the ‘PICKIT 2’ programmer may easily be connected. Full source code examples are provided both for several different PIC’s, both in assembler and C, together with the Pascal code for the Delphi programs which use different 3rd party Delphi virtual components.

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