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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 | March | 2024 Volume 53. No. 3 March 2024 ISSN 2632 573X Editorial Teach-In 2024 Well, last month we promised the return of Teach-In to PE and I’m delighted to say Mike Tooley has delivered. Teach-In 2024 is based around the powerful inexpensive SoC (system on a chip) microcontroller the ESP32. I must confess that although I’d heard of the ESP32 I didn’t really know that much about it – there are only so many microcontrollers one can keep up with! However, reading through Part 1 I can see why Mike chose this device. It really does open up fascinating possibilities for projects, especially given its flexible connectivity, compact size and low power requirements. Lots to look forward to as the series rolls out over the year. 70s project still going strong It’s always nice to receive a bit of optimism during the cold, wet and windy month of January, and this week the following email from Mr Nigel Railton-Bennett landed in my inbox: In 1971 I subscribed to your magazine and loved the contents: information, education and construction projects; many of which I made. In this year, in particular, Shaw and Gibbs of Ferranti Ltd wrote up their design for the Practical Electronics Gemini Dual Purpose Stereo Amplifier. The specification was so good that there was nothing to beat it. The purpose of this letter is to say that I built this amplifier, and then made any adjustments necessary outlined in future ‘points arising’ articles. Since that time, this amplifier has been connected to everything that requires such a tool. I have a control box which can switch between various ancillaries, but everything goes through the amp: record turntable, open reel, cassette, CD, radio and TV. I have decent speakers of course. The amplifier is only turned off if there is a power cut or when I move house, otherwise it is on day and night. This is to commend Gibbs and Shaw and Practical Electronics for such a good job. Thank you. And thank you Nigel – over 50 years and counting. That is truly an impressive run for a home-built project. Can anyone beat that? Any PE projects from the 1960s out there still up and running? I look forward to hearing about them. Matt Pulzer Publisher 7