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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 | July | 2024 Volume 53. No. 7 July 2024 ISSN 2632 573X Editorial We’ve come a long way Hobby electronics has come a long way since the days when, nearly a century ago, constructors grappled with newly emerging vacuum tube technology to produce home-brew radio receivers of surprising sophistication and complexity. That was in an era when ‘wireless’ was one of the few practical hobbies available to budding ‘makers’. (Woodworking was another.) Interest in radio intensified exponentially during the 1930s and magazine titles such as Hobbies and Practical Wireless appeared weekly to meet an insatiable demand for projects to challenge the hobbyist’s practical skills. Practical Wireless would become a standalone title aimed at the flourishing hobby radio sector while its sister magazine, Practical Electronics, followed in the early 1960s to exploit new semiconductor devices in a wider range of applications. The wannabe electronics constructor has been kept busy ever since! Our hobby has of necessity mirrored global technological trends, and today’s constructors embrace a wholly different set of skills compared with their forebears. Wikipedia reminds us that the first electric soldering iron dates back to 1889: appropriate for radio sets of yesteryear, perhaps, but some modern construction projects regularly use ready-made modules and tiny surfacemounted devices that are much smaller than a match head – a fact of life dictated to us by the electronics industry. Starting 25 years ago, boards full of discrete components were swept aside by the microcontroller, which demanded programming and coding knowhow, aided by the use of software design tools. Thanks to our design partners at Silicon Chip, the class-leading projects found inside every issue take advantage of these modern components along with high-quality printed circuit boards that help ensure constructors can accomplish their latest project successfully. One thing that hasn’t changed over the years, though, is the inspiration and variety that we at Practical Electronics strive to bring our readers every month, offering constructors interesting and absorbing challenges to keep you just as busy as ever! What will the future bring? From circuits using glass vacuum tubes housed in wooden cabinets to the latest designs based on devices with a billion or more transistors in 3D-printed enclosures, electronics has changed beyond recognition. In fact, when it comes to electronics, change is the one constant you can rely on. So, what will the coming decades bring? AI, smarter sensors and faster devices seem certain, but I’m sure there will be surprises too. And that’s all part of the fun! Matt Pulzer Publisher 7