2012Nuts&VoltsFebruarywww.nutsvolts.com
Page 32
Projects & Features
32 Channel Surfing With
An Arduino
The Arduino is perfectly suited to emulate
the IR remote controls associated with many
modern appliances. If your TV recorder and
tuner are different devices, this will allow
you to change channels between scheduled
recordings on whatever schedule suits you.
■ By William Baird
38 The Edison Cell
Rediscover the secrets of a 100 year old
“green” battery whose time may finally
have come.
■ By Walter Noon III
44 Creating a Virtual Serial Port
With the 32-Bit Micro
Experimenter
Need a serial port but don’t have one on
your computer? No problem! We’ll show
you how to use your Experimenter to
provide virtual serial communications.
■ By Thomas Kibalo
FUNdamentals For Beginners
76 Build a Moisture Detector
Departments
08 DEVELOPING
PERSPECTIVES
30 NEW PRODUCTS
31 SHOWCASE
72 NV WEBSTORE
6
February 2012
75 ELECTRO-NET
77 CLASSIFIEDS
78 TECH FORUM
81 AD INDEX
Columns
10 TechKnowledgey 2012
Events, Advances, and News
Read about a battery that offers a 25 year operating life,
Clouds with ears, and seeing sound, to name a few.
Plus, Pong turns 40.
14 PICAXE Primer
Sharpening Your Tools of Creativity
Constructing a two-digit seven segment LED
project board.
24 Q & A
Reader Questions Answered Here
Help with a random number generator, battery tester,
LED dimmer, and a nonsense circuit are just some
of the topics covered in this month’s column.
52 The Design Cycle
Advanced Techniques for Design Engineers
CLC Culture.
59 Smiley’s Workshop
Programming • Hardware • Projects
Breadboard LCD Navigator Part 2:
The Navigator Buttons.
68 Open Communication
The Latest in Networking and
Wireless Technologies
Comm Kits — A radio kit is a great way to get familiar
with electronics and communications.
Page 68
Cover photo provided by Matthew Roddy
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