Electronics Forum / Electronics / April 2004

Hello, I'm looking for some advice on what to look for in a soldering iron.
I'm going to mainly be using it for through hole components but will have
the occasional SMD part to place.  Before today I had two irons, one 15watt
i used for smaller components and a larger 45 watt I used ...

Are there any good cheap Australian
suppliers of Amtel Mega8L's at the
moment ?
I'm looking at under 9-10 dollars

Just wonder where i would be able to find some good 2nd hand oscilloscopes

Hi,  I need a small no of capacitors (presume they'll be electros of some
type) that will last a long time in a hot environment, up to 60C. 100 or 220
uF, 63 volts. Any suggestions on make, source?  TIA

We had a couple of power outages in quick succession today, and now the
display on our 25" Philips/Magnavox TR2502 TV seems to have developed an
inferiority complex; it now wants to be the display of a 32" TV.  The
display now appears to be "magnified" by about 30% and shifted ...

I have a KVM switch that allows me to switch between two computers
using a single keyboard, video and mouse. I would like to extend this
function by sharing one pair of speakers between the two computers. It
is probably preferable to be able to hear the output of both computers

Like show  http://laserone.free.fr/TEST/
I'm using a 9v 150mA battery to give supply the electronic system, since
it's a rechargeable one i want to realize a Boost recharger, my questions
are :

 I need to convert a PAL composite signal to NTSC. but I dont have access
to many component suppliers, mainly radioshag :P
 any idea?

i was looking @ some of the new dvd recorders now available like the
pioneer 310 ..I believe there is a 510model (with HDD) @ twice the
price.. But from specs etc  I am still puzzled as to... and how they can
copy an original dvd movie say.. Can the 310 do it and how does the 510 ...

   I have an older chip sound recorder that uses a ISD1020AP.
This IC is defective, and I have not been able to find a source
(obsolete?).  Is there a replacement I can use without any circuit
modifications?

I've always wanted to pick up stations in Pittsburgh
69 miles away, so I got an FM antenna and put it up.
However I needed a receiver with an external
antenna connection.  I found an old Pioneer tuner at

  Would it be possible to run the standard UK building site stepdown
transformers in revesrse to obtain 240vac from a 110vac supply. Do
these transformers have some protection circuitry to prevent overload
that might prevent this and could the transformer be used just on it's

Occasionally, a black box will pop up my TV and HTTP or IP addresses will
start scrolling down it.  It only happens on one TV that I'm having to use
the aux video input (tuners shot).  I have cable internet and the TV is fed
from a split off of the cable line.  Any way to block ...

I'm hoping that someone may have an old Nat Semi databook that has the
cop404 in it. I would dearly love to get my hands on a scan of the pinout.

FS: 24dBi modified Hills Antennas for 2.4Ghz wireless LANs
A$84 + GST + Freight
see www.rfshop.com.au/ant.htm