T&L Publications

In the lastest issue of N&V there is an article on building a pseudorandom flickering effects circuit using a PIC. But, no where in the article is the program listing or on the FTP site. Does this mean that a person has to buy it from the author or is there a generic program than can be used for this type of application. I did not find any reference of description of the PIC function inteh article. Wondering if this is an oversight of the N&V editor?? I thought of building a similar device with multiple controllers to run several minature christmas lights on an outdoor tree. I was hoping to give the tree a candle light appearance. Dave

Can't help you there as I still have the August issue.
I have noticed in other articles where a PIC is mentioned you can usually get the PIC preprogrammed for that project.

I am really surprise that there have not been any further comments to this item. By now, hopefully more people will have had the chance to read this article. I thought articles that include a PIC would generally have the program that is either printed or downloadable from a FPT site. Again if a person wants to build this project you have to buy the software. This is maybe okay in a different forum but it should not be a project build article in Nuts & Volts. I feel that this article is a glorified advertisement rather than a genuine project construction article. I am hoping that Nuts & Volts will not resort to any more of this type of articles. I would appreciate any comments; perhaps I am taking the wrong view on this?
Dave

There is a simpler way that may not be as random as the article in question.
If two standard flasher LED's of the the same color are put in parallel, then in series with another LED(Orange for Haloween)and connecte to 6 to 9 Volts DC the single LED will flicker like a flame. When the two flashing LED's are in sync the single LED flashes at the flash rate of the the flashing LED's. When the flashing LED's get out of sync with each other the single LED flashes odd.
Ned

Ned that is an interesting approach. A while back TJ Byers presented a circuit with four 555 timers each operating at a different frequency and with different duty cycles. The outputs are combined to a signle LED. I ended building this circuit and played around with the timer values in order to get a realistic candle effect. I thought I would look at a PIC approach but discouver the program had to be purchased in the article. Thanks for the suggestion and I will give it a try. Dave

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by DaveF:
I thought articles that include a PIC would generally have the program that is either printed or downloadable from a FPT site. Again if a person wants to build this project you have to buy the software. This is maybe okay in a different forum but it should not be a project build article in Nuts & Volts. I feel that this article is a glorified advertisement rather than a genuine project construction article. I am hoping that Nuts & Volts will not resort to any more of this type of articles. I would appreciate any comments; perhaps I am taking the wrong view on this?
Dave<hr></blockquote><p>Those were my exact thoughts after reading the article and not seeing a program listing. I even checked the website referenced in the article and the NV FTP site. I seem to recall a few other "articles" that also turned out to be advertisements. Very disappointing, N&V

ONCE A PON A TIME * out of production now *<p>they used to sell what was called a GAS FLAME
lamp... all it was is a tubular bulb,,with a carbon filiment and a small maganet on the side of the lamp.. i lucked out and got a case or 3
they were all green gel-painted,,,but scalding hot water took it off,,so now they are clear..i have this lamp in a old oil type lamp with a frosted globe..and people swear its a real flame in it,,, flickers like a candle...wish they would being them back into production...
just wanted to share ........is there somewhere here to add a foto?? if so let me know and i'll post a mpeg or foto..

Athough I am very interested to build a candle fame simulator there is another issue of importance. I am surprise wit the lack of comment and feedback on this issue. The issue is about articles that are submitted for publication should provide the option to the reader of dounloading or typing in the program instead of having to purchase the software when the project involves a PIC. I would think one of thebasic requirments for any article that is submitted to Nuts&Volts is the author has given up is exclusive right to acquire revenue for his software program. The reader should be left with the option. Does anyone else see this as an important issue to be raised to the publisher. I myself do not expect to read project articles only to find that I have to purchase the software. This turns into an advertisement for the author. At least that is the way I see it. - Dave

"I would appreciate any comments; perhaps I am taking the wrong view on this?"<p>We at the magazine share your view, Dave. We recently updated the writer's guidelines to require at least object code for projects containing programmable parts, with both source and object files preferred. I am actively enforcing this and have rejected numerous articles from authors that opposed this requirement.<p>For various reasons, I was not able to convince the author of the pseurandom flicker project to comply, but I felt there was still value to our readers in the voice activated circuit portion of the article.<p>But hey, if anyone wants to cook-up replacement code for this circuit, go ahead and post it here... :p <p>Dan Danknick
Technical Editor
N&V, Servo

Dan, thank you for your reply. I am glad the people at N&V are taking this approach to ensure valued articles are only published. Dave