Interview Part 6: a labour of love

In Part 6 of my potted history (nearly there now!), we pick up the story as we entered the early 1990s. The hobby electronics market was still quite buoyant at this time and Everyday Electronics and Electronics Monthly (to give it its full title then) was going from strength to strength. I tackled the flagship tutorial series, Teach-In '93 featuring the Mini Lab and Micro Labs.  Read more...

Soon be 2015 - time for a new diary...

It’s time to start thinking of next year’s diary and the new 2015 diaries are now in stock. I’m not one to put all my eggs in one basket so I never use PC office software nor my mobile phone to keep track of appointments. Instead I use an old-fashioned product that contains strange white material called “paper” and data is entered using a “pen”. 

Collins Wiro A5 notebook diary is simple to use, opens flat and has plenty of space to jot down notes every week [click to see]My personal favourite diary for many years has been the Collins 61 Wiro Weekly Notebook diary. It’s spiral wire-bound so it opens easily and lays flat on my desk. Its best feature is the lefthand side which is left blank for notetaking. Great for scribbling down reminders, jotting down things to do, taking notes during phone calls and so on, I use it all the time. Also, there’s no guff that bulks up other diaries and things like dialling codes and national holidays are kept to the minimum. The Collins Wiro Notebook diary is easy to use, versatile and focussed on the job of showing a week to a view.

Interior view - the lefthand side is for notes [click to see]

The A5 size (my preferred choice) is perfect for many desks and tabletops, so if you’re starting to look ahead to 2015 now’s the time to source a useful diary like the Collins 61 Notebook. If you’re busy with more notes and appointments, the A4 size is probably better. I also like to use neon pens for writing or highlighting notes and you can try some fun stickers too.

• Just a tip, it’s worth keeping diaries for several years because you never know when you might want to look back and refer to useful notes, phone numbers, quotes etc. that you jotted down.

Get rid of BT 1571 and save £22 a year

Updated on Monday, October 20, 2014 at 3:37PM by Alan W

BT’s 1571 service is a simple voicemail service that takes a message when you’re line is engaged or there’s no answer. If you’ve already got 1571 then you can’t turn it on or off, and BT now charges £1.75 a month (rising to £1.85 shortly) for the privilege of having it. To see how to delete 1571 and save money, check this article!

Click to read more ...

BT8500 Advanced new Call Blocker DECT handset

If you're pestered to death by nuisance phone calls like I am - a dozen phone calls from TNS alone recently - then a nuisance call blocker is the answer.  The most effective design has been the expensive TrueCall system, a separate box that answers the phone on your behalf so you don't have to directly engage with the caller.  A separate Internet-related service is available (£20 a year from year Two) if you want to micro-manage your incoming calls.

However, for many harassed consumers who are targetted by junk calls, the answer may well be BT's new BT8500 Advanced Call Blocker, a cordless system (up to six DECT handsets) that is powered by Truecall.  Junk calls can be dealt with silently, or sent to the answerphone, or put through to your handset - it's your choice. A dekstop corded model is also now available.

This is a fantastic and long-overdue development, a proper game-changer and one that I'm looking at very closely. Also check my earlier article about the problems of nuisance calls and how to deal with them. More details...

New - The Basic Soldering Guide Handbook

New paperback handbook published

Click to see coverAfter publishing a Kindle e-book version of my Basic Soldering Guide, I’m pleased to launch a paperback version called the Basic Soldering Guide Handbook. This unique new 84 page book is printed in full colour throughout and contains more than 80 photos illustrating the whole process of soldering by hand.

Typical steps in through-hole (pcb) soldering are depicted in full colour [click to see]No prior knowledge is assumed. Everything that you need to know about starting is soldering is here, commencing with explanations of different soldering equipment, solder, fluxes and tools followed by step-by-step photo sequences of p.c.b. soldering.

How to choose and use a soldering iron - it's all here! [click to see]

Examples of tasks such as l.e.d. wires, flying leads and potentiometer soldering are  provided along with basic reflow methods. Then various desoldering techniques are discussed, with more quality photography showing clearly what readers are likely to expect in real life.

Various practical soldering tasks are described [click to see]You’ll gain a good understanding of all the critical factors that affect the quality of a soldered joint. Extra resources for training and education are supplied, including a Troubleshooting Guide and Basic First Aid guidance. With a multitude of colour photographs, the Basic Soldering Guide Handbook is a complete training resource in its own right and the book explains everything you need to know to start soldering with confidence in next to no time.

Available from local Amazon websites or direct from the book printers Createspace, who deliver worldwide. Please see the EPE Magazine Resources page for details.

The Basic Soldering Guide Handbook by Alan Winstanley

Size 6” x 9” paperback. Full colour. 84 pages. ISBN 9781500 531140

UPDATES AND ERRATA

Page 77, Useful Check List

... through-hole joints should be slightly concave in shape [the text on page 38 correctly mentions the concave shape]

Upgrade a Circline fluorescent lamp

It's out with the old and in with the new (some of it, anyway), as I upgrade a Circline 32W circular fluorescent tube fitting with an electronic ballast that offers instant-on lighting and silent, reliable operation. Just the thing when an expensive update to a legacy light fitting can't be justified. Here's a step by step walk-through with photos explaining what to do. More details...

European Company Network phony directory

After an 18 month break, the bogus Business Directory is back - beware of emails from these phony 'Business Registers' that will sleepwalk you into receiving an invoice for €995 per year for three years. Just the thing that an unwary accounts clerk might pay regardless.

Of course, "updating is free of charge"! But that's not the same as ordering an insertion.

Dear Madam/Sir,

In order to have your company inserted in the EU Business Register for 2014/2015, please print, complete and submit the attached form (PDF file) to the following address:

EUROPEAN COMPANY NETWORK
P.O. BOX 3079
3502 GB UTRECHT
THE NETHERLANDS

Fax: +31 205 248 107

Updating is free of charge!

Also see my previous item on the phony World Trade Register. Same address.

Wacom Intuos Graphire tablet under Windows 7

Wacom says that serial graphic tablets like the legacy Intuos Graphire GD-0608-R aren't supported in Windows 7 but I found out how to do it and also used a classic data switch to share it with another PC running Windows XP.  There are some caveats though. Read more...

New section on Design Notes

For now I've removed my section on Stock Photography as I'm not working so much on that. Too much competition for very little return has made it unrewarding, and all the large stock photo agencies can afford to be picky. I have added a new web page on Design Notes,  intended for sundry articles on commerce and product design. Starting with the thorny problem of costs, markup and margins for non-accountants.

http://alanwinstanley.squarespace.com/design-notes/

Repair a Draper ARHL 6V battery pack

Do you have a Draper RHL185 rechargeable searchlight? I show how to refurbish the battery pack.If you own an older Draper-brand 6V RHL185 rechargeable lamp then this article is for you. It’s likely that the battery pack is showing its age or it might have failed altogether by now. You probably appreciate the lamp’s super-large searchlight but after so many years the battery is probably on its last legs, but you’ll also probably know that the Draper 6V ARHL battery pack is obsolete and nobody’s got any spares.

Don't throw away the lamp or battery housing! I show how to refurbish one of these battery packs and suggest a source of spares. Read more...