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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. 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 | February | 2024 Volume 53. No. 2 February 2024 ISSN 2632 573X Editorial Looking forward to 2024 By the time you read this it will be (a chilly) 2024, the start of a new year and a brand new batch of exciting projects and articles. Looking ahead, I can see a superb range of circuits and designs to suit every interest and level of experience. The most popular area for readers is probably audio and Hi-Fi. In addition to Jake Rothman’s uniquely insightful Audio Out column, we have some mouth-watering amplifiers coming down the line for you to build and enjoy. Plus, for speaker enthusiasts, there will be an innovative Loudspeaker Test Jig that uses your computer’s sound card to measure loudspeaker performance, inductors, capacitors and complex impedances. With this Jig and appropriate software, measuring and tweaking crossovers, cabinets and speakers is easy. For testbench fans we will be using a Raspberry Pi Pico W as a substitute for GPS modules for when you can’t get a reliable GPS signal. It enables you to get time from an internet NTP server via Wi-Fi and is accurate to a fraction of a second. Need a basic signal generator that’s compact, cheap to build and doesn’t involve many parts? We’ve got you covered with a design that goes from 10Hz up to 25MHz. Plus, there will also be a handy device that can provide test voltages, test signals, vary a resistance, switch a component in or out of circuit and even measure some voltages. A veritable Swiss Army Knife of test and measurement options. Teach-In is back! The really exciting news for the new year is that Mike Tooley’s Teach-In series is returning. For 2024, Mike has chosen the ESP32 device as the heart of an excellent series of in-depth articles. The ESP32 is a popular, flexible and powerful low-cost, low-power system on a chip microcontroller with integrated Wi-Fi and dualmode Bluetooth. Mike will use this module as a basis for learning electronics and coding. He will be making no assumptions about your coding ability or previous experience of electronics. If you know one but not the other, then this will be the Teach-In for you. Even if you’re a complete newbie you’ll find Mike’s hands-on approach the perfect route to learning. From all of us at Practical Electronics, thank you for your support over 2023, and we look forward to inspiring and informing you in all things electronics in 2024! Matt Pulzer Publisher 7