Juicing Up Your Robot with Batteries
When you're ready to make your robot move, it's time to consider the full battery of options. Size, strength, and lasting power are all factors to take into account when making your selection. Not to mention [more…]
Putting Your Television to Work
What's all the big fuss about over TiVo?
TiVo works as your robotic television manager, constantly scanning upcoming show listings to separate your favorites from the trash. It juggles the recordings to [more…]
Navigating Street Atlas USA
The first thing that you notice about Street Atlas USA is that it doesn't use a familiar Windows, menu-based user interface. Instead, it uses a unique user interface with its mapping programs; after you [more…]
Selecting a Geocache to Look For
After you get all your gear together, ready to venture out into the wilds, comes this one small detail: How do you know where to look for a geocache?
Like most other modern-day searches for information, [more…]
Getting Wired with Nanowires
Nanowires are simply very tiny wires. They are composed of metals such as silver, gold, or iron, or semiconductors such as silicon, zinc oxide, and germanium. Nanoparticles are used to create these little [more…]
Enhancing and Managing Digital Photos with Roxio PhotoSuite 8
Roxio PhotoSuite 8 provides multipurpose editing for your digital photos. In addition to being able to make enhancements that fix flaws such as red eye, over- and underexposure, and blurriness, you can [more…]
Picking a Radio Club
The easiest way to get in touch with other hams is through the local radio club. Radio clubs have been around as long as radio. The first clubs were just groups of like-minded experimenters who collaborated [more…]
Understanding Warranties and Returns on Car Audio Equipment
Like any consumer product, car audio equipment usually comes with a manufacturer's warranty. But unlike most consumer products, car audio equipment has to be installed in a vehicle for it to work. Some [more…]
Units of Measure for Electronics and More
These units of measure are used in many different areas, not just electronics. Note that in science and engineering, though, an upper case 'M' represents a million and a lower case 'm' represents a millionth [more…]
Electronics Calculations Using Ohm’s Law and Joule’s Law
These equations, using Ohm’s Law and Joule’s Law, are the most useful you’ll find in electronics. They come in handy all the time for checking what's going on in your circuits. [more…]
Resistor and Capacitor Colour Code
Use this table to decipher the colour code on your resistors and capacitors. Distinguishing some colours from others can be tricky, so examine small parts really closely – perhaps with a magnifying glass [more…]
Capacitor Tolerance Code
Capacitor ratings aren't all that precise, but you can at least work out how imprecise the ratings are by deciphering the following letter tolerance codes. [more…]
Capacitor Value Reference
The first two digits of a capacitor value reference give you a number that you then divide or multiply by factors of ten according to the value of the third digit. [more…]
Electronic Component Abbreviations
This table lists the abbreviations for some standard international units named after famous scientists and engineers. The symbol for the ohm is the upper case omega, which is the last letter of the Greek [more…]
Electronics For Dummies Cheat Sheet (UK Edition)
Having basic electronics info with you at your electronics workbench in the UK can be invaluable. Tear out and pin up these calculations, values, symbols, abbreviations, measurements and markings, and [more…]
Get Free Games with Sony's PSPgo Rewards Plan - Europe Only
If you're living in Europe and switching from a PSP (PlayStation Portable) to a PSPgo, then Sony's PSPgo Rewards plan can help with a bump in the transition. [more…]
How to Make Space on Your Portable Media Player
What do you do when your portable media player runs out of space? You may never reach the outer limits of your media player if you have a huge hard drive and rip your music at the default settings of your [more…]
Useful Ham Radio Web Sites
Ham radio users can tap into an abundance of online information from a variety of Web sites. These amateur-radio Web sites have details about ham radio contests, equipment, technical information, and tips [more…]
Ham Radio Emergency-Frequency Reference Chart
Take steps to prepare yourself in case of an emergency, so you can communicate on your ham radio. Fill out the emergency frequencies and names of leaders in your area and keep this reference chart handy [more…]
Ham Radio Frequency Privileges: Technician Class, General Class
A frequency privilege is the permission granted by your ham radio license to use a particular group of frequencies. Of the three ham radio licenses permitted today [more…]
Ham Radio Q Signals
Amateur ham radio operators use Q signals (or Q codes) as shorthand to speed up non-voice communication. Each Q signal represents information: advice, an answer, or a call for action. You turn the signal [more…]
Common Ham Radio Repeater Channel Spacings and Offsets
A ham radio repeater station is an amateur station that retransmits the signals of other stations. The difference between the repeaters' input frequency [more…]
Ham Radio For Dummies Cheat Sheet
If you're interested in ham radio or have already joined the fun, make sure you know the frequency privileges of your license; ham radio Q signals; and ham radio repeater channel spacings and offsets. [more…]
Popular GPS Manufacturers
When you can download a GPS app to your phone, you know GPS has gone global in more than just name (GPS = global positioning system. Get it?). To help you explore some of the GPS makers out there, the [more…]
Must-Have Features for a Handheld GPS
If you're happiest in the great outdoors, a handheld GPS device may make you even happier. Use a GPS unit to help with your personal navigation needs whether you're boating, hiking, geocaching, or doing [more…]
