Q&A
then run inside a fan, based on a self-timer. Yet again, you ignored my
request!
Now, I have this audio frequency amplifier (Please, don’t ask me
what it’s for!) with all the parts for it,
but I’ve forgotten which part goes
where. Can you please help me find
the accurate values for caps and
resistors from the parts list given.
My JPEG image doesn’t contain
viruses!
you the answer or flip it over to the
Tech Forum. Be aware, though, I
can’t answer a question that takes all
of my time or uses up my month’s
allotment of ink. For that, we have
feature articles. So, don’t expect me
to build your science project or write
your thesis.
Hopefully, I will soon have a Nuts
& Volts “Q & A” web page for those
spill-over questions that didn’t make
the cut for the magazine, but need
answering. Stay tuned.
this site for Heath Robot owners (I
have a Hero Jr.): http://hero.dsav
age.net
Richard Ober
Baton Rouge, LA
Also try http://ww_heco.
home.mindspring.com/ It keeps
better track of the moving Heath
websites than I can.
— TJ
D. Zillbermann
via Internet
MAILBAG
A. I never ignored your requests
and even responded to at least
one via Email. The problem is that
your questions either require more
page space than this column affords
or that they are too ambiguous or
application specific. As for the Linx
Technologies question, did you ever
check their website? It has your
answers.
If other readers feel like Mr.
Zillbermann — in that I’m ignoring
you — please realize that I receive
more questions per month than I can
possibly publish. I have to select
those questions that appeal to the
greater audience. If your question has
to be bumped, I do my best to Email
Dear TJ,
I have been rummaging through
my back copies of Nuts & Volts,
looking for a schematic that you
might have been a part of. In doing
so, I noted a Mailbag entry in the
October 2003 issue from Joseph
Wilson suggesting that a particular
Heath site did not exist.
Being old enough to have built
these kits, I looked for the site and
found it at www.circuitarchive.
fsnet.co.uk/heath.htm (It may take
a few tries to access the site; it is
available intermittently.) The URL in
the magazine left out FSNET.
Plus, in surfing around, I hit upon
F
o
r
E
l
e
c
t
r
o
n
i
c
s
NUTS & VOLTS
E
v
e
r
y
t
h
i
n
g
Electronics and Electrical V8.2
New V8.2 release!
Now just $9
A huge interactive home study and
technical reference tool for
hobbyists and engineers, containing
over three hundred electronics and
electrical topics. All at a fraction of
the previous published price.
Simple one-click to download and
fully install to your hard drive with a
backup copy, by visiting our web site
and selecting electronics.
www.eptsoft.com
Free downloadable updates
Free trial evaluation
Contact us on info@eptsoft.com
Also:
Mathematics and Computing V8.2 - $9
Mechanics and Electrical V8.2 - $9
Electronics, Mechanics and Computing V8.2 - $24
Dear TJ,
Regarding the February 2004
issue, the concept of a 42 volt system
(actually 36 volts) is not really new.
Back in the 1920s and 1930s, 36 volt
lighting systems were used in many
railway passenger cars and in rural
America where there were, as yet, no
commercial power lines. The lamps
were designed to operate at 32 volts
and looked like ordinary household
lamps with the standard Edison screw
base and fitted ordinary 110 volt-type
sockets. This concept was wonderful
for its time.
While it’s true that a higher
voltage system in an automobile will
allow smaller and lighter wiring to be
used, there is a potential problem.
The wire used on a 36 volt system
may need only 1/3 the cross-sectional area of the equivalent 12 volt
system, but — in Canada and the
northern US — this thinner wire can
be susceptible to disruptive corrosion
caused by road salt used in the winter
to clear the roads.
The problem with corrosion
usually is not along the length of the
wire, which is insulated, but at the
point the wire terminates, where the
copper is exposed. Unless the auto
makers take much greater care in
design and installation to protect
these smaller wires than they currently do, there will be a rash of various
kinds of automotive electrical system
failures long before their time.
Ernie Moore
Nepean, Ontario
36
Dear TJ,
Your discussion of battery
arrangements in the April 2004 issue
SEPTEMBER 2004