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Contents Vol.38, No.05 May 2025 12 Digital Scent and Taste Soon your smartphone might be able to detect smells for you, or let you sample the tastes of foods from a menu! These ‘electronic’ noses and tongues could be used like a “canary in a coal mine”. By Dr David Maddison, VK3DSM Science feature DIGITAL SCENT & TASTE 34 Electronex 2025 Electronex – the Electronics Design and Assembly Expo – will be held in the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on the 7th & 8th of May this year. Come and visit Australia’s largest electronics exhibition. By Noel Grey (AEE) Electronics exhibition 82 RNBD451 Bluetooth LE Module Microchip’s new RNBD451 Bluetooth module and its companion EV25F14A evaluation board provide a feature-rich way to add Bluetooth (including BLE) connectivity to your designs. Review By Tim Blythman Low-cost electronic modules 88 Precision Electronics, Part 7 After covering digital-to-analog converters, we take a look at the flipside: analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). Sampling analog values quickly and accurately is a little more tricky than producing them. By Andrew Levido Electronic design 24 Versatile Battery Checker Our newest Battery Checker works on all kinds of batteries like Li-ion, LiPo, lead-acid, 9V batteries and lower-voltage cells like C, AAA etc. It is compact, portable and can be powered by the battery under test or a 9V battery. By Tim Blythman Test equipment project 58 Tool Safety Timer If you have ever worried about leaving a tool on (like a soldering iron), this project is for you. It can switch a mains-powered device off after not being used for a set amount of time by detecting movement using an IR sensor. By Phil Prosser Power control project 66 RGB LED Analog Clock This colourful Clock uses a series of LEDs to imitate an analog clock. You can also enable a light chaser effect to have the LEDs circle around each second. The Clock supports a GPS module or NTP time to remain accurate. By Nicholas Vinen Clock project 78 USB Power Adaptor This simple and inexpensive project provides you with an easy way to add a USB socket to a 5V DC powered device. It uses less than a dozen parts, and you can fit either a USB Type-C or Type-B (mini or micro) socket to the PCB. By Nicholas Vinen Power adaptor project PAGE 12 Page 58 Tool Safety Timer USB Power Adaptors Page 78 2 Editorial Viewpoint 5 Mailbag 77 Online Shop 95 Subscriptions 96 Circuit Notebook 98 Serviceman’s Log 104 Vintage Radio 109 Ask Silicon Chip 111 Market Centre 112 Advertising Index 112 Notes & Errata 1. Digital voltmeter to ammeter conversion 2. Night alarm door checker 3. Automatic op amp offset nulling Emerson 888 mini-mantel set by Ian Batty