Nuts & Volts

08529261PROJECTSand FEATURES42 CHIP MUSIC COMPOSINGSIMPLIFIEDMake your own musicalmicrocontrollers.■ By G.Y. XuON THE COVER ...38 A SIMPLE DIGITALTACHOMETERBuild this “speedy” device toassess work you do to yourvehicle’s engine.■ By Dan GravattMAY 200646 A DIGITAL CAPACITANCEMETERAdd a capacitance meter to yourtest bench without blowing outyour wallet.■ By Robert Reed52 CONSTANT CURRENTSOURCES — PART 2This tutorial concludeswith semiconductor, electricalcomponent, and electrochemicalapplications.■ By Vaughn D. Martin61 THE BRAIN-COMPUTERINTERFACEBrain interfacing technology hasgone from science fiction to thereal world.■ By James L. Antonakos67 BIOLOGICAL ORGANISMSAND ELECTRONICSThis fusion may save the world!■ By Christopher T. HoltCOLUMNS08 TECKNOWLEDGEY 2006Events, advances, and newsfrom the electronics world.12 GETTING STARTED WITH PICsUsing PIC timers.22 Q&AEverything you wanted to knowabout MOSFETS. Practical appsand lots of theory.74 STAMP APPLICATIONSThe object of the machine.78 PERSONAL ROBOTICSZen and the art of Zigbee: Part 2.86 THE DESIGN CYCLEFlight testing the ARM.92 NEAR SPACEGeiger Counter Telescope: Part 1.DEPARTMENTS06 READER FEEDBACK34 NEW PRODUCTS51 ELECTRO-NET60 SHOWCASE70 NEWS BYTES98 CLASSIFIEDS108 NV BOOKSTORE110 TECH FORUM113 ADVERTISERS INDEXNuts & Volts (ISSN 1528-9885/CDN Pub Agree#40702530) is published monthly for $24.95 per yearby T & L Publications, Inc., 430 Princeland Court, Corona, CA 92879. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID ATCORONA, CA AND AT ADDITIONAL MAILING OFFICES. POSTMASTER: Send address changesto Nuts & Volts, P.O. Box 15277, North Hollywood, CA 91615 or Station A, P.O. Box 54,WindsorON N9A 6J5; cpcreturns@nutsvolts.com4 May 2006