Hardware hacker. Selected reprints — volume IV

168 Pages·1994·1.379 MB·English

by  Don Lancaster

Hardware Hacker IV
Don Lancaster’s
Hardware Hacker
Selected reprints — volume IV
Electronics Now series (January 1992 - January 1994)
Copyright c. 1994 by Don Lancaster and Synergetics Press
Box 809, Thatcher, AZ 85552 [phone]
ISBN 1-882193-04-0
Book-on-demand self-published using the Apple IIe computer, a duplex LaserJet and the
PostScript language. All graphics were done in their entirety by ProDOS AppleWriter 2.1.

i
Hardware Hacker IV

ii
Hardware Hacker IV
Introduction
W
elcome to the fourth volume in our ongoing series of my Hardware Hacker
reprints from Electronics Now magazine. This volume includes the January 1992
through January 1994 columns.
As before, I do use the term "hacker" in its original context, namely anyone who is
genuinely interested in pushing all the limits of software and hardware and is
willing to do so in a fully cooperative, low cost and sharing network environment.
I’ve tried to expand the topics beyond the strict boundaries of traditional
electronics. Going into the science and math subjects many of you have asked for
over our voice helpline.
I still get lots of pseudoscience and "free energy" questions. So, focus areas of this
volume include thermodynamics, power transfer theorems, and related engineering
fundamentals. Stuff that outright precudes all perpetual motion scams. At the same
time, I have indexed and listed most of the fake pseudoscience sources. Mostly,
because they make wondrously bizarre reading, I guess.
Some of the more popular subjects in this volume include distant FM reception,
Newtek’s Video Toaster, advanced halftone imaging, and new solar energy
developments. Plus updates on wavelets, caller ID, and GPS navigation. And great
stuff on cubic splines, UFO’s, and phone interfaces.
Preprints and reprints of most of my columns are also available electronically via
GEnie PSRT. Presented in both PostScript and Adobe Acrobat formats. For GEnie
access, have your modem dial [phone]. After the prompt, enter JOINGENIE.
When you are later asked for your keycode, enter DMD524.
I continue to offer my no-charge voice helpline at [phone], and offer free
referrals from our Synergetics Consultant’s Network. I’ve also got a free and newly
expanded Hardware Hacker Inside Secrets and catalog waiting for you when you
call or write. You can also grab this as SYNCAT1.PS off GEnie PSRT, or else
request one through my Internet address of [email protected].
The Electronics Now subscription number is [phone].
ii i
Hardware Hacker IV
About the Author
A
s he said in his classic Incredible Secret Money Machine II, Don Lancaster
writes books. And quests tinajas.
Microcomputer pioneer and guru Don Lancaster is the author of 33 books, 2 videos,
and countless articles. These include his TTL Cookbook and CMOS Cookbook
internationally published million seller classics. Don is considered by some to be
the father of the personal computer, for his early ground-breaking work with hacker
digital electronics and low cost video terminal displays. He is considered by others
to be the patron saint of the Walter Mitties of the World. And by yet others as the…
Uh, I guess we better skip that one.
Don is the Hardware Hacker in Electronics Now [phone], runs his Resource
Bin in Nuts & Volts [phone], and is the Blatant Opportunist in Midnight
Engineering [phone]. Don is also the sysop for GEnie PSRT, a leading
Hardware hacking, PostScript, laser publishing, and money machine on-line
resource. His Ask the Guru columns continue to be published electronically on
PSRT. For fast GEnie modem access, dial [phone]. Then JOINGENIE and
DMD524.
Don is also the head honcho of Synergetics, a new-age design and consulting firm
that specializes in computer applications, laser printing, PostScript development
work, electronic prototypes, Book-on-demand publishing, technical writing, and
innovative software design. His avocations include firefighting, cave exploration,
bicycling, and, of course, tinaja questing.
Don maintains a no-charge voice helpline at [phone]. He does welcome your
calls and letters. The best calling times are 8-5 weekdays, Mountain Standard Time.
Referrals to Don’s Synergetics Consultant’s Network are available through this
F
same number.
iv
Hardware Hacker
Table of Contents
Caller ID chips update Electronic halftones
Perpetual motion again Apple’s PhotoGrade
New wavelets shareware Consultants network
Common lab test pitfalls Two great new books
Lumeloid and Lepcon films Marketing your ideas
Using the IC master Alternate action latches
Wavelets info update Histogram equalization
Another Caller ID chip Gamma curve correction
Piano & organ resources Digital image processing
Musical note frequencies Semiconductor IC houses
Laser printing repairs Distant FM reception
Sync separator circuit UFO resources listing
GPS navigation update TV/FM booster circuits
Video interface module UHF & VHF amplifiers
Hacking Super Nintendo Pseudoscience research
FM stereo broadcasters Conventional currents
Super Nintendo update Assorted wonderments
CD to car radio adaptors FM Yagi antenna design
DYS and other resources Navigation & navicubes
Ockham’s razor revisited Two new piezo rate gyros
Dye-based solar energy High side FET drivers
Another sad patent story Drawing semilog plots
Neo-Geo interface cables Laser printer repair kits
Micro-avionics newsletter Resonance fundamentals
RGB monitor fundamentals Far East electronic sources
Santa Claus machine BBS Relaxation oscillators
Direct toner breakthrough NewTek’s video toaster
Laser printer repair video Broadcast trade journals
Synchronous rectifier ideas Syncronizing video sources
Fundamentals of correllation Electric Discharge Machining
more . . .

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Hardware Hacker

Epoxy encapsulation myths Single station FM traps
Nichrome & resistance wire FM DX reception update
Semiconductor suppliers III Free GPS receiver boards
FCC part 68 phone interface Resources for "free energy"
Copy protection absurdities Nonlinear graphic secrets
Using cubic splines Pulse monitor resources
Switchmode resources New wireless comm mag
Electrorheological fluids An update on free energy
National’s simple switcher Aerobic exercise software
Non-ionizing radiation safety Thermoelectric guidelines
Video game repair videos Magic resources listing
Piezoelectric fundamentals Dialog and Usenet access
Understanding Curie Points Data compression secrets
Simple home EDM machining Alternator to stepper video
Stunning new ic opportunities Gaining comm transparency
Steam calliope sources Digital photo imaging
Micropower oscillators Magnetic field resources
Avoiding energy scams Fluxgate compass papers
Thermodynamic basics A pair of new GPS books
The comm trade journals Error diffusion techniques
Short haul telemetry Digital Bogey contest
Max-min slope theory Multimedia resources
SETI books & resources CTCSS tone squelching
Unique new optical link Coin mechanism sources
Maximum power transfers Low distortion sinewaves
A flying car newsletter Hacker’s data exchange
Photopolymer resources Adobe’s Acrobat system
Amateur television books New pseudoscience mag
Royalty-free real PostScript! Voice messaging circuits
BASIC Stamp microcontroller Special effects resources

vi
Don Lancaster’s
Caller ID chips update
Hardware Hacker Perpetual motion again
New wavelets shareware
Common lab test pitfalls
Lumeloid and Lepcon films
January, 1992
Wavelets. We have got lots find a free energy system, they should Oscilloscopes do a far better job
of wavelets. You getcher be spanked and sent to bed without than the meters or digital displays at
wavelets here. As we’ve any supper. Or, better yet, chopped up showing you what is really coming
discovered a number of and fed to the cows. down. Even here, an uncompensated
times before, wavelets are a stunning Second, because the odds of your probe, the wrong setting, improper
new math concept that is profoundly accomplishing anything that’s even sync, an invisible glitch, any outband
changing virtually all the advanced remotely useful involving free energy signals, or just a ground clip that is
electronic topics. A failure to learn are stupendously low. Third, because slightly too long can cause you wildly
wavelets now is the same as volun- your credibility starts out as less than incorrect results.
teering for early retirement. zero and quickly plummets. Owing to It is only when the same tests are
We’ve already seen that Jones and previous scams, the "not even wrong" run over and over again by different
Bartlett has published THE great new research, and the "few-chips-shy-of- people under different circumstances
wavelets book, and that the Ultra- a-full-board" guilt by association. that you can even remotely begin to
wave Explorer from the Aware folks And, finally, because there’s so trust your instruments. Even when
is one fine commercial wavelet study much better to be doing. We’re sitting repeated, that trust should only apply
and development program. on the greatest mountain of new to the exact measuring conditions.
But the big news is that I’ve just hardware hacking chips, tools, info, A ferinstance. Figure one shows
posted full working PC shareware and concepts anywhere ever. Stuff you a seemingly simple method to
copies of the Wavelet Packet Library that’s crying for hacker use, and stuff measure ac power. You connect your
from Digital Diagnostics on GEnie that is nearly certain to result in lots new motors-and-magnets perpetual
PSRT as #365 WAVELET.PS. of interesting and profitable things. motion machine load to the ac power
Those of you into satellite dishes Why ignore the obvious? line through an ammeter and then
and microwave electronics are now Several of the recent callers were separately measure the line voltage.
probably familiar with Smith Charts, making measurements that were just Since power equals volts times amps,
a handy graphical method of doing plain wrong. Since I am one of the you just multiply your two readings
things like impedance matching and world’s foremost experts in gathering together and you’ll have the input
tuning. I have written a PostScript incorrect, misleading, or meaningless power. Right?
Smith Chart generator that lets you lab data, I thought we might briefly Wrong. Dead wrong.
instantly create all your own Smith focus on a few of the ways that casual Let’s temporarily forget about any
charts in any quantity, any size, any measurements may not end up what noise, spikes, back-EMF effects, har-
resolution, and any where in your they appear to be. monics, and nonlinearities that are
publication. Check GEnie PSRT #367 In general, you’ll always want to certain to be present with your new
SMITHCHT.PS for several freeware assume that all meter pointers and, motors-and-magnets load. Assume a
samples. Your downloading cost on especially, all of your digital numeric pure sinewave voltage and a similar
this is around twenty one cents. displays are lying through their teeth. current waveform. You have to take
Or, if they are giving you a correct the phase of the current into account.
Perpetual Motion Again
reading, the odds are overwhelming You would get a zero phase shift with
I get an average of three to five that the meaning and the underlying a purely resistive load. In a purely
helpline calls a week on "free energy" reasons for that reading are not at all inductive load the voltage would lead
and other perpetual motion topics. As what you had in mind. the current by 90 degrees. In a purely
we have seen in the past, perpetual
motion is definitely real as a historic
and ongoing societal phenomenon. 4 amps
We have also seen that two ongoing
sources of perpetual motion books,
videos, and papers are High Energy
AC Motors and
Research and Lindsay Publications. 110
power Magnets
Now, I personally feel that looking Volts
line Load
for any free energy systems is rather
dumb. First, because the desirability
of any free energy ranks somewhere
between Herpes and AIDS. Why? Be-
cause this would obviously hasten the Fig. 1 – WHAT IS THE REAL POWER being consumed in this test circuit?
already ongoing entropic heat death There’s no way to tell with the setup shown. But you can safely bet that it is
of the planet. If someone does in fact probably not anywhere near 440 watts.
49.1
Hardware Hacker
you sum to find the total power.
The power of any arbitrary wave-
+V form is equal to the DC continuous
power that would give you exactly
the same amount of total heating in a
purely resistive load.
You can do this measurement with
a real wattmeter, or by measuring the
rotational speed and direction of a
- watthour meter. The wattmeters and
+ ref watt-hour meters are often available
through Fair Radio Sales or Herbach
Typical IC
and Rademan.
Series Regulator
Motors and Electronically, you can use a mul-
Magnets tiplier chip or a special RMS power
Load
calculating circuit. Analog Devices is
one leader in low cost power chips of
this type.
Or graphically, you can take plots
Fig. 2 – WHEN IS A REGULATOR NOT A REGULATOR? Any time that your of all the exact voltage and current
load tries to source (rather than sink) power, a typical IC voltage regulator will waveforms, split them up into time
shut down or else become unstable. There is no current path to ground. slices so narrow that the voltage or
current does not change much, mul-
capacitive load, the voltage will lag first quarter cycle, you have positive tiply the results of those slices and
the current by 90 degrees. voltage and current. On your next then sum the results.
Good old ELI THE ICE MAN. The quarter cycle, you will have positive Note that you must multiply first
voltage is ahead of the current in the voltage and negative current. On the and then add. Never vice versa.
eLi’s L inductor; the current is ahead next, negative voltage and negative But you still do have to be careful.
of the voltage in his iCe capacitor. current. And finally, negative voltage Nonlinearities, pulses, harmonics,
And if you have any purely active and positive current. Add them all up motor back EMF effects and noise
load such as another generator, your and average them all out and you end require special treatment. And most
current could end up phased by 180 up with zero real power. power measurement schemes have a
degrees. Sourcing, not sinking. Yes, you will get lots of back-and- crest factor limit which ruins their ac-
Your actual power will end up the forth reactive power that can give you curacy on strong but narrow pulses.
voltage times the current times the real fits. And hack off your electric Especially spikes and glitches.
cosine of the phase angle between the utility. But your net real power into a For these reasons, it is extremely
two. If your voltmeter reads 110 and pure inductive or capacitive load is difficult to accurately measure your
your ammeter reads 4, your actual precisely zero. input power to a motors-and-magnets
circuit power will be 440 watts to a Thus, as far as power goes, all the perpetual motion machine. If you do
purely resistive load, ZERO to any voltmeter and ammeter readings are not know exactly what you are doing,
purely inductive or capacitive load, totally meaningless. And even less so all your results are guaranteed to be
and MINUS 440 watts to any purely in the presence of noise, back EMF’s, wildly wrong. And so, of course, will
active load. Or anything between, de- sparking, or harmonics. be your conclusions.
pending upon your phase angle. Figure two shows you a second
Measuring Real Power
Why is the power zero to a purely measurement pitfall that the recent
inductive load? Because of the phase So how do you measure real and callers have all decided to ignore. A
angle. A math freak will tell you the reactive power? The trick is that you voltage regulator is always a voltage
full cycle cross product of a sine and have to multiply the instantaneous regulator, right?
its cosine is zero. Intuitively, on the voltage and current together. Then Wrong. Dead wrong.
Most popular voltage regulators are
only capable of sourcing current. If
(open) (closed) the load starts sourcing any power
even briefly, there is no place for the
100 V 0 V 50 V 50 V current to go, and the regulator either
shuts down or starts oscillating.
100m F 100m F 100m F 100m F Thus, if you have a motors-and-
magnets load, there could be times
Energy = 0.5 Joules Energy = 0.25 Joules when the back EMF effects, spikes,
commutator noise or whatever, will
Fig. 3 – QUICKLY CLOSE THE PERFECT and lossless switch. And half of try to source power back into your
your circuit energy will vanish without a trace. Where did the energy go? supposed power source.
49.2
January, 1992
Put in another way, typical power are once again absolutely certain to optical film, and pollution control
supplies and most regulators have be wrong. developments. Among other things,
wildly different impedances between Always think carefully about your he developed the cheap glasses once
when they source and sink power. measurements and how they could be used for 3-D movies.
Note that any normally connected wrong or misleading. And EPRI, that ultra-conservative
Zener diode will behave precisely the Electric Power Research Institute
Lumeloid and Lepcon Films
opposite – they are great power sinks electric utility consortium has seen fit
but poor sources. We sure had a bunch of helpline to fund Marks with a modest research
An output filter capacitor on your calls over the new materials stuff I grant. Albeit a paltry one by EPRI
regulator is essential for grabbing and announced a column or two back and standards. Coffee money.
smoothing out high frequency load in our Hardware Hacker III reprints. The two key patents involved are
sourcing variations. I’ve picked up some more info, and #4,445,050 Device for Conversion of
Beyond proper output filtering, two have summarized where to go for Light Power into Electric Power, and
ways around load sourcing effects are more in our Lumeloid and Lepcon #4,574,161 An Ordered Dipolar Light-
to hang enough of a resistive load on Solar Resources sidebar. Electric Power Converter.
your regulator that the regulator will Let’s start off with the bottom line: There is very little published to
always output a net sourcing current. Yes, this looks like it someday could date. And all of it is single sourced.
Most batteries are usually capable of be real. Maybe. At least in the lab. None appears to be peer reviewed or
sourcing and sinking any reasonable No, you cannot yet buy the stuff by critiqued. A collection of reprints is
amount of current. the yard through your local K-Mart now available free on request from
Figure three shows you yet another fabric department and staple it to your Advanced Research Development.
way to go astray. All bets are off if roof. Yes, this is a great topic for a One original paper has shown up as
there is any sparking or arcing. It is school paper or a science fair. And an Lumeloid Solar Plastic Films and
physically impossible to instantly incredible emerging research area. Lepcon Submicron Dipolar Antennae
change the voltage across a circuit On the other hand, working proto- on Glass, from the 1990 International
capacitor or the current through an types do not yet exist. And there are New Energy Technology symposium
inductor. The usual result when you just enough "penny stock" and "media published by the Planetary Assoc-
try this is sparking or arcing. hype" aspects to all this that I have iation for Clean Energy, located in
Take a 100 microfarad capacitor lowered my rating from "solar break- Ottowa, Canada.
and charge it on up to 100 volts. Your through" to "an interesting potential As we’ve seen a number of times in
energy in any capacitor is… solar development." But you could the past, you can quickly research any
2 judge for yourself, just by picking up technical topic by using the Dialog
E = 0.5 CV
on the resources in our sidebar. Information Service at your local
or, in this case, 0.5 Joules of stored The key individual behind all this library, and then can get any reprint
energy. Now, you close your lossless is one Alvin Marks and his company by using either interlibrary loan or
switch so you have two capacitors in of Advanced Research Development. the UMI reprint service.
parallel. The voltage must, of course, Their OTC pink sheet stock is traded So what is the big deal here and
drop in half, since the same charge is under the name Phototherm. This is how does it work? Your traditional
now spread across twice your plate strictly an unregistered blue sky se- methods of generating electricity
area. And by the same formula, you curity, and trading remains illegal in from the sun are seriously flawed.
now have only 0.25 Joules of stored Massachussets, the issuing state. The old mirrors-and-boilers method
energy. Marks is a credible, experienced, involves a thermodynamic cycle with
Question: Where did the rest of and independent researcher with a a Carnot thermodynamic efficiency
your energy go? long history of successful energy, limit around 35 percent. Besides not
If you have a non-lossless switch
of resistance R, the answer is easy. In
The transformer is 1:1 The zener diodes are
the process of charging the second 600 Ohms, with a 1500 3.9 volt devices, such
capacitor, the extra energy got burned volt breakdown rating. as a type 1N5228.
up in your resistor as heat during
charging. But go through the charging
10W
math, and you’ll find that the loss of
half the stored energy is a constant
phone 250 volt user
which is totally independent of the line varistor
value of R!
If R equals zero, then you have to 10W
get a spark and radiated energy. But
2200 pf
you still lose half of it, regardless of
how good the switch is.
Thus, if there is any sparking or Fig. 4 – A FCC PART 68 INTERFACE is required any time you connect any
arcing whatsoever in your motors- circuit of your own to the phone line. While this interface can be both simple
and-magnets machine, your readings and cheap, the required submission and approval process is not.
49.3
Hardware Hacker
downsizing very well. Silicon solar solar to electric systems that seem to Just make it any old color so long as
cells at a theoretical 26 percent are have high theoretical efficiencies. it is black. Even a black felt tip pen
even less efficient. It seems that they Radio waves are electromagnetic. will do. The trick lies in rectifying
can only accept "whole lumps" of Solar energy is electromagnetic. The and gathering all the received solar
quantum energy, and have to throw main difference between orange light electromagnetic electricity, rather
the rest away as heat. And, before (at 600 nanometers) and television than burning it up as heat.
Marks, any photosynthesis scheme channel two (6 meters) is a 10,000:1 The Lepcon panel is the older of
was well under six percent efficient. size factor. Those light wavelengths Marks’ two new developments. In a
And efficiency is everything in may seem tiny, but we are starting to Lepcon panel, tiny rectenna elements
solar power. On a good day, you have routinely handle submicron distances are created on glass using more or
one incoming kilowatt per square in integrated circuit manufacturing. less conventional but very advanced
meter to work with. Say a nickel an There’s this thing called a cyrstal microlithography. These are basically
hour "avoided cost" income for a set that you might have heard of. Just a conductive channel ending with a
perfect conversion. Or two cents a shove some electromagnetic energy metal barrier diode. The photons in
day allowing for night and weather. into an antenna, rectify it somehow, the incoming solar energy are used to
Naturally, your bottom line efficiency and out comes dc power. These days, accelerate electrons, which jump the
will usually be much less than your we call the same thing a rectenna. So barrier diode to become a dc current.
theoretical. Let your efficiency drop why not use light waves instead of Unlike a traditional solar cell, there
too low and there’s no way that solar radio waves? are no "whole lumps only" quantum
can be competitive. Get under the An antenna is any subsystem for effects involved, and nearly all of the
bottom-line efficiency of seven per- converting radiated electromagnetic available energy gets converted.
cent or so, and you will never be able energy into conducted wire electro- The antenna/rectifier combination
to pay for your installation and land, magnetic energy. Or vice versa. As a only works with one polarization of
owing to the time value of money. transmitter, if your antenna is now light. It converts the one polarization
The longer it runs, the more it costs properly matched to the rest of your with up to a theoretical 80 percent
you for the financing. circuit, nearly all of your input energy efficiency, and passes the remainder
But, alternatively, the nickel-per- will get radiated. And, since most on through. You could put a second
kilowatt-hour incoming solar energy antennas are linear and reciprocal Lumeloid panel underneath that is
on a 2200 square foot house roof adds devices, if you input any electro- oriented 90 degrees from the first to
up to over $3000 a year. Which is lots magnetic energy well inside of the convert the other polarization.
more than usually gets used under- antenna’s effective area, nearly all of Or, you could use a sneaky trick
neath as electricity. So efficient solar it will get converted into conducted consisting of a quarter wave plate
electric conversion could completely electricity. So, a properly matched and a mirror to rotate your rejected
blow away coal, nuclear, and even antenna can be 100 percent efficient. polarization by 90 degrees and shove
most hydro. And a rectifier nearly so. it back up through the original film.
Marks has developed two different Now, an optical antenna is trivial. Your combined efficiency ends up
around a theoretical 72 percent.
The projected costs of the Lepcon
Ring Input Terminate Output Off Hook Detect Serial Data Output Energy Detect Out cmntphhriieqoeTc ucmrpheeoaeisslnc si tae Lihinllsusso mgtasihrrnheoeasoloputouehrnilyadyddd . l $l feTao2inslhf5tmd e0 v2 tcep5hphre eyyrerom e mpecasaxiercenspsal.esevll n e,tu sseasi cnvethdoes-
600W low cost and high volume production.
3.58 Mhz Xtal The chemicals attempt to mimic the
first half of the long photosynthesis
+5V nc process. A rather long chain carbon
18 17 16 15
CRBHRA1RI8TERM45 DAA V 1C4CSC1P3MCD12O1E1D11P12D0X1O9UT1X8IN matotalecchuelde , tsou csho mase peolleycatcreotny lednoen, oirs-
acceptor complex, such as porphyrin
TIP RING N/C N/C VINN VCC OHD GND N/C V1INV2IPE3L1E4L2ED5CVR6FGN7D and quinone.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
The long chain molecule acts as a
+5V + conductive antenna, changing the
input optical energy into electron
Phone Line 0.1m F 0.1m F 0.1m F 1m F energy. The tunneling gap effect
Inputs between the large donor and small
acceptor rings acts as a rectifying
Fig. 5 – PRE-APPROVED PART 68 INTERFACE HYBRIDS are available, but diode for DC conversion.
they are rather expensive. Here is a caller ID circuit that uses the Cermetek For all this to work, the molecules
CH1845 DAA interface and the Sierra SC11211 caller ID chip. have to be carefully oriented while
49.4