A Short Biography of Alessandro Volta

What's black and contains a whole lot of useful cables and test leads? Well it's the PeakTech P 8200 Measuring Accessories Set. Check out this review to take a closer look at what's inside...

Not depreciating the B4A product proper in any way, Anywhere Software is wanting in power to encourage beginners to start programming their Android devices. And that is exactly where Elektor top author Dogan Ibrahim steps in with his latest book. Yes, yes, Elektor readers… the trial version of Basic For Android (B4A) is free! and the book uses it to its full extent without you paying a cent! Only professionals and sponsored students should consider buying B4A.

Using the small power supply module DPS5005 from JOY-iT, a programmable laboratory power supply can be put together. The module can (at the maximum allowed input voltage of 55 V) supply no less than 0...50 V at 0...5 A, 250 W, that is. It does, however, require another AC/DC power supply module to provide the input voltage in order to make a complete lab power supply. JOY-iT has the housing DPS-Case in their line-up, especially for this module. This kit contains all the components to house the module neatly and safely.

This Arduino project, described in the November & December 2017 issue of Elektor is both useful and original in many respects. It is notable for the use of a component a bit out of the ordinary: a load cell. For electronics purposes, this is a simple variable resistance which measures the mechanical deformation to which it is subjected.

According to an old saying in my country, ‘he who can distinguish good advice from bad does not need advice from anyone’. If this is true, we probably would no longer need YouTube. Do you go to YouTube to help choose tools for your electronics lab? I have thought for a long time that some comparative reviews which one finds there, like those for two soldering irons, could be useful, as long as you are focussed and critical. But I’ve ended up doubting that.

The HPS140MK2 handheld oscilloscope still holds the same power as its predecessor, the HPS140, but in a new and modern design. Although small in size, this oscilloscope packs 40 MS/s in real time and it's sensitivity can go as low as 0.1 mV. It also has a full automatic measuring system but can be operated manually if preferred.

This glowing new bargraph thermometer from Elektor Labs is based on an Arduino Nano. It offers a beautiful graphical representation of ambient temperature using a Russian IN-9 tube and an illuminated scale with various RGB-controlled colours. The temperature scale in degrees Celsius as well as Fahrenheit extends from 10 °C to 30 °C / 50 °F to 85 °F. The circuit consists of a 5-to-150 V "voltage doubler" step-up converter, an IN-9 tube driver based on a low-voltage rail-to-rail opamp, two RGB LEDs and of course the Nano.

This is a submission from Rutronik about Minew’s new MS88SF2 multi-protocol module. This module is based on the SoC (System-on-Chip) nRF52840, Nordic’s most powerful short-range wireless microcontroller. It can be operated with the wireless protocols Bluetooth 5.0, ZigBee 3.0, Thread and ANT, as well as with proprietary 2.4GHz stacks.

This is a submission from Keysight Technologies, Inc. Keysight and Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc., announced a collaboration to improve the design and test validation efficiency of antenna in package (AiP) technology development and accelerate the pace of new technology innovation.

The existing SVA1000X series will be extended by a new model which supports up to 3.2 GHz bandwidth. From now on it is also possible to perform measurements such as antenna matching in the widely used 2.4GHz ISM band. Additionally, with the introduction of the SVA1032X, the vector network analysis function is integrated and enabled as standard for the entire SVA1000X series.

Best of the BAY-ern [11]: It's time for the latest tech news from Munich and all around the innovative German state - Bavaria!