UPDATED 4-Aug-94 by Don McKenzie.

Some Electronic 'Must Read Books'.

In the files DALLAS.DOC and PROGRAM.Z80 on my PBUFF_ZLOAD disk, and my
installation instructions, I make mention of Dallas Semiconductors, and
Maxim Products. In fact I make mention of them quite often to my work
colleagues, friends and customers.

I refer to these Data Manuals as "BIBLE" items, which to me means that any
one into Micro Design MUST have these two Data Manuals. Sources for these
manuals are given in the above mentioned files.

Maxim have done a great deal of design work in the last year or two such as:

MAX233. Same as a MAX232 but without the capacitors.
MAX241. A complete PC/AT Serial port TTL to RS232 converter on a single chip.
MAX485. TTL to RS-485 on a single chip. (Two wire circuit.)
MAX667. Voltage regulator. 3.5V to 16.5V Input. +5V Output @ 250ma.

AND the Maxim list now goes on, and on, just like Dallas Semiconductors.
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And here is another item that will be of great interest to Hobbyists and
Design Engineers alike.

Have you heard of Steve Ciacia? (Pronounced See-ya, see-ya.) For ten years,
he wrote Technical articles for the U.S. Byte magazine. Most of the hardware
articles were done by Steve. When he left a few years back, so did a big
group of readers, including me.

Well, I found him again. No, not in person. At Southport (on holidays) in
mid 1991 I discovered a magazine called "CIRCUIT CELLAR INK. THE COMPUTER
APPLICATIONS JOURNAL". It's about the same size as Electronics Australia or
Silicon Chip.

Steve is the Foundation/Editorial Director of this magazine. Initially it
was published six times a year (1988) and since February 1993, this has been
stepped up to 12 copies per annum.

This magazine actually has circuits in it. It's been a long time since I
have seen this sort of thing. You will only find it at the larger Newsagents
and Technical Bookstores, and the cover price is around Aus $9.20.

If you wish to directly subscribe for 12 issues, it's a big saving at US
$21.95 with foreign surface mail costs at US $28. I have been getting my
issues on the first of the month, and it's the correct month too. I don't
know how that achieve that.

The address is P.O. Box 7694 Riverton, NJ 08077-8794 USA. They accept VISA
and MasterCard. FAX (203) 872-2204.

If you don't think it's worth subscribing, I feel it is worth getting your
local Newsagent to chase you up a copy for a quick peek.

What are they into? IęC Bus, Access Bus, Single chip computers, Single board
computers, Eprom Emulators/Burners, D/A, A/D, Robotics, Home Automated
control and alarms, Basic Stamps (PIC16Cxx), Embedded controllers, PCMCIA
cards, Infra Red remote control, and the Idea Box that is a product
directory that includes some of the most unusual items I have ever seen.

Here is the June 93 Index:

2       Editor's INK: Code on the fly.
6       Readers INK: Letters to the Editor.
8       New product news.
14      Object-oriented Programming in Embedded Systems.
26      PC Parent-Child Programming: A path to Multitasking Under DOS.
38      High speed Modem Basics: The working hardware.
46      Firmware furnace. Memories are made of this: The 386SX project goes
        Non-volatile.
56      From the Bench: Breathing life into an old friend. Revisiting the Z8.
62      Silicon Update: Talking chips.
70      Embedded Techniques. The art of battery management.
78      Patent talk.
81      Advertiser's Index
85      Connectime: Excerpts from the Circuit Cellar BBS.
96      Steve's own INK

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6-Oct-93 Found another U.S. Magazine of interest. Computer Craft. $6.60
local cover price. Aug-93 edition is Vol 3, No. 8, so it too, must have been
around for a while.

The article that caught my eye was: "How to copy Basic-52 into EPROM".
It refers of course to the INTEL 8052 based BASIC. Now isn't that illegal?

Here is a quick rundown on the contents:

10      Build a Cybernetic key.
16      Windows Compatibility and .INI Files.
20      New Windows Schematic and PCB Software.
34      Add "Bells and Whistles to your projects."
56      Adding Peripherals to your PC.
61      Build a quick and dirty data interface.
42      Designing Microcontroller Circuits Part 2.
43      Special Bonus Section. The 8086 family.
53      A simple BASIC-52 Extractor.
75      GUI Guts.
88      Computer Games.

Plus the usual Reviews, Columns, and Departments.

This Magazine is very much like CC INK in that it includes lots of circuits,
but in my opinion, it's not quite as good. It all depends on what you are
after, and it may depend on the individual monthly articles of interest.
Worth a look.

10-Apr-94
Computer Craft magazine changed its name to "Micro Computer Journal
(formerly Computer Craft)" for the Jan/Feb-94 Edition. This magazine is now
produced six times a year instead of twelve. The size increases by approx.
50%, and the Australian cover price goes from $6.60 to $11.10 an issue.
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24-Oct-93 I have been using a group of Tandy books for a number of years
now, and felt they should be included in this file. These books are the
Engineer's Mini-Notebooks and represent good value for the Novice and
also for the Engineer who needs to brush up from time to time.

They are written in terms that most people with a yearning for Electronics
will understand.

These are:
Timer ICs. Covers 555/556 ICs.     276-5010 $2.99
Op Amps. Over 40 clever circuits.  276-5011 $3.99
Opto-Electronics                   276-5012 $3.99
Basic Semi-Conductor Circuits.     276-5013 $3.99
Digital Logic Circuits.            276-5014 $3.99
Communications Projects.           276-5015 $3.99
Formulas, Tables & Basic Circuits. 276-5016 $3.99
Schematic Symbols.                 276-5017 $3.99
Science Projects.                  276-5018 $3.99

And also "Getting Started In Electronics" 276-5003 @$5.95

At around $40 for the lot, it could be the most "Realistic" value Tandy
offers.