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Practical Electronics Editorial offices Practical Electronics Tel 01273 777619 Electron Publishing Limited Mob 07973 518682 1 Buckingham Road Fax 01202 843233 Brighton Email pe<at>electronpublishing.com East Sussex BN1 3RA Web www.electronpublishing.com Advertisement offices Practical Electronics Adverts Tel 01273 777619 1 Buckingham Road Mob 07973 518682 Brighton Email pe<at>electronpublishing.com East Sussex BN1 3RA Editor Matt Pulzer General Manager Louisa Pulzer Digital subscriptions Stewart Kearn Tel 01202 880299 Online Editor Alan Winstanley Web Systems Kris Thain Publisher Matt Pulzer Print subscriptions Practical Electronics Subscriptions PO Box 6337 Bournemouth BH1 9EH Tel 01202 087631 United Kingdom Email pesubs<at>selectps.com Technical enquiries We regret technical enquiries cannot be answered over the telephone. We are unable to offer any advice on the use, purchase, repair or modification of commercial equipment or the incorporation or modification of designs published in the magazine. We cannot provide data or answer queries on articles or projects that are more than five years old. Questions about articles or projects should be sent to the editor by email: pe<at>electronpublishing.com Projects and circuits All reasonable precautions are taken to ensure that the advice and data given to readers is reliable. We cannot, however, guarantee it and we cannot accept legal responsibility for it. A number of projects and circuits published in Practical Electronics employ voltages that can be lethal. You should not build, test, modify or renovate any item of mains-powered equipment unless you fully understand the safety aspects involved and you use an RCD (GFCI) adaptor. Component supplies We do not supply electronic components or kits for building the projects featured, these can be supplied by advertisers. We advise readers to check that all parts are still available before commencing any project in a back-dated issue. Advertisements Although the proprietors and staff of Practical Electronics take reasonable precautions to protect the interests of readers by ensuring as far as practicable that advertisements are bona fide, the magazine and its publishers cannot give any undertakings in respect of statements or claims made by advertisers, whether these advertisements are printed as part of the magazine, or in inserts. The Publishers regret that under no circumstances will the magazine accept liability for non-receipt of goods ordered, or for late delivery, or for faults in manufacture. Volume 53. No. 4 April 2024 ISSN 2632 573X Editorial Welcome to the future As every electronics hobbyist will undoubtedly agree, nothing quite beats the thrill and satisfaction of powering up a newlybuilt project, and – fingers crossed – witnessing our latest endeavours bursting into operation for the very first time. In years gone by, this initial ‘power-up’ might have taken the form of a crackle or thump on a loudspeaker, the glow of vacuum tubes, a switch-on ‘kick’ on a moving-coil meter needle or the blink of a red LED showing a promising sign of life. Sometimes though, despite all the efforts we diligently invest in assembling our latest project, our toils might not go entirely to plan; instead of enjoying a triumphant power-up, we might instead see some ‘magic smoke’ escaping from an errant component or two, or, disappointingly, nothing at all happening. The principles of fault-finding and debugging will challenge our detective skills and are an integral part of our wonderful hobby, and it’s immensely satisfying to overcome any teething problems and finally see our work springing into life as we’d initially anticipated. I sometimes wonder what our predecessors would make of today’s state of the art. Powering up our latest projects might see us greeted with a ‘Hello world’ exclamation on a liquid crystal display, or the boot-up menu of a crisp and clear OLED alphanumeric read-out, just before it proceeds to connect to the Internet. That’s the marvellous thing about our hobby: there’s always something new and exciting coming along to pique our interest and challenge our constructional skills. Our workbench is a place where we can escape to and keep our brain busy for a time, while an increasingly noisy and uncertain world runs its course outside. Here at Practical Electronics we do try to move with the times by bringing you modern projects that will supply the enjoyment and satisfaction that we know our readers have a thirst for. We try to cater for all levels, though, including our excellent educational features such as Circuit Surgery and Teach-In, instructional material of the highest quality that you won’t find anywhere else. One thing’s for sure, our forebears would blink in total disbelief at what we can now achieve using just a handful of miniscule parts and some very clever coding. Over to you, readers – welcome to this month’s Practical Electronics. Matt Pulzer Publisher Transmitters/bugs/telephone equipment We advise readers that certain items of radio transmitting and telephone equipment which may be advertised in our pages cannot be legally used in the UK. Readers should check the law before buying any transmitting or telephone equipment, as a fine, confiscation of equipment and/or imprisonment can result from illegal use or ownership. The laws vary from country to country; readers should check local laws. Practical Electronics | April | 2024 7