Not just for amateurs
Brad Thompson, Contributing Technical Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 6/1/2004
The evolution of electrical and electronic test instruments fascinates me. In a few decades, we've seen bulky mahogany boxes give way to crackle-finished metal cases, which in turn yielded to sleek plastic enclosures that fit in the palm of one's hand. Galvanometers gave way to d'Arsonval meters which were superseded by digital readouts that later vanished entirely, subsumed into personal computers' onscreen displays. I'm not ready for the next step—bionic instruments featuring direct-to-brain communications and embedded in fingers. Call me old fashioned, but the thought of touching a test point and "seeing" a chartreuse waveform crawl across my visual field gives me the creeps.
In the immediate future, we can anticipate working at test benches sprinkled with phalanxes of small and relatively inexpensive instruments, all chatting away with a central host computer via RF links or optical fiber links.
A sometimes overlooked thread in the test-technology tapestry, the amateur radio community offers some interesting and innovative case studies of dedicated test instruments featuring low-cost embedded microcontrollers (such as Microchip's PIC family, Atmel's ATMega processors, and Motorola's 68HC908).
Examples include RF network analyzers by Paul Kiciak, N2PK, and Steve Hageman; a direct digital synthesis (DDS) signal generator/variable-frequency oscillator by Steve Weber, KD1JV; and a modular antenna analyzer designed by Joe Everhart, N2CX, and George Heron, N2APB.
Although the lines between the two categories get blurred, embedded microcontrollers offer several advantages over traditional microprocessors. Highlights include more-extensive documentation and design examples, simplified in-circuit programming, and free or low-cost development software. On-chip peripherals help, too, although specialized or high-performance interfaces still demand external add-on ICs.
Think of amateur radio as a hardware analog of open-source software. While it's unlikely that you'll find your company's next product line by copying amateur-radio projects, you can learn useful techniques by studying other peoples' designs and software listings.
While you're at it, why not give something back to the amateur radio community by becoming a ham or contributing an instrument design of your own?
|
