Electronics Projects For Dummies
by Earl Boysen and Nancy Muir
Electronics Projects For Dummies
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Copyright 2006 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2006926111
ISBN-13: 978-0-470-00968-0
ISBN-10: 0-470-00968-3
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4
1B/RT/QX/QW/IN
About the Authors
Earl Boysen is an engineer who after 20 years in the computer chip industry, decided to slow down and move to a quiet town in Washington state. Earl is the co-author of Electronics For Dummies and Nanotechnology For Dummies. He lives with his wife, Nancy, in a house he built himself and finds himself as busy as ever with teaching, writing, house building, and acting. Visit Earl at his Web site to get reviews and information about the latest components and techniques for building projects: www.buildinggadgets.com.
Nancy Muir is the author of over 50 books on topics ranging from desktop computer applications to distance learning and electronics. She has a certificate in distance learning design and has taught technical writing at the university level. Prior to her freelance writing career, she held management positions in the publishing and software industries. She lives with her husband Earl and their benevolent owners their dog and cat. Nancys company, The Publishing Studio, has its Web site at www.pubstudio.com.
Dedication
Nancy and Earl dedicate this book to their uncle, Ted Stier, with thanks for being such a great guy and giving Nancy away with such style and grace!
Authors Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Katie Feltman for continuing to hire them to work on interesting book projects and to Chris Morris for managing the editing process and the authors so successfully. Thanks also to technical editor Kirk Kleinschmidt and copy editor Teresa Artman for making sure that what we wrote ended up being accurate and grammatically correct.
We also received help during this project from the following people, and they have our sincere gratitude: Bruce Reynolds of Reynolds Electronics (www.renton.com); the helpful folks at Magnevation (www.magnevation.com); and the following helpful members of our local ham radio club: Clint Hurd, Andy Andersen, Jack West and Owen Mulkey; and Gordon McComb of Budget Robotics (www.budgetrobotics.com).
Publishers Acknowledgments
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Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:
Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development
Project Editor: Christopher Morris
Acquisitions Editor: Katie Feltman
Senior Copy Editor: Teresa Artman
Technical Editor: Kirk Kleinschmidt
Editorial Manager: Kevin Kirschner
Media Development Specialists: Angela Denny, Kate Jenkins, Steven Kudirka, Kit Malone
Media Development Manager: Laura VanWinkle
Editorial Assistant: Amanda Foxworth
Sr. Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case
Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com)
Composition Services
Project Coordinator: Patrick Redmond
Layout and Graphics: Claudia Bell, Carl Byers, Joyce Haughey, Barbara Moore, Barry Offringa, Alicia South
Proofreaders: Leeann Harney, Joe Niesen, Christy Pingleton
Indexer: Techbooks
Special Help: Virginia Sanders
Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies
Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher
Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher
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Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director