A must for technical hobbyists, this text teaches readers how to use a personal computer as a control device and shows them how to create simple circuits that connect a PC to external electronic devices, running them from the PC. It provides all the information needed to create the circuits and describes what can be accomplished with them. The CD-ROM contains the software needed for running these circuits, detailed circuit diagrams, executable files, and the source code for each circuit's software.
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
PC & Electronics: Connecting Your PC to External Devices shows how to make your own version of the oft-advertised Clapper, a device that turns lights on and off in response to the noise of a handclap. Further, it shows you how to make port testers, a thermometer, an interface that enables you to control a model train, a control for a stepper motor, and several other projects--all designed to plug into a port on an IBM-compatible personal computer and interact with the user via software.
A couple of Zoller's projects are straight out of Mr. Wizard's Pointless Science Projects--no one needs a special electronic device for testing light bulbs when a lamp will do the job admirably. Many of the circuits--those having to do with model railroads, for example--are of practical use only to certain people. But this book is for electronic hobbyists, people who get a kick out of soldering components together to make functional devices. The programs that interact with the hardware appear on the companion CD-ROM, where you'll find the Visual Basic source code, though it's not discussed in the text.
Don't worry if you're new to homemade electronics. Zoller explains basic techniques, including soldering, board making, and component identification, in some detail. --David Wall
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Horrible book,
By A Customer
This review is from: PC & Electronics: Connecting Your PC to the Outside World (Productivity Series) (Paperback)
I have to agree with the rest of the reviews. The circuits may be simple but the code for talking to them is written in VB 4.0. The problem with this is that it makes it very difficult to talk to the serial and parallel ports because they included two dll's (which contain all the manditory code to talk to the ports) when they should have just included the code for them inside the main module of the program (at least then we may have been able to see how in the heck the programs talk to the ports.) Windows 95 and above versions talk differently to the serial and parallel ports than what the software included with the projects does. You may build some neat circuits, but don't expect to be able to control them from the included software. I have had to rewrite each and every individual program in Visual C++. I am a computer science major and this was even difficult for me. I don't recommend this book at all!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Do not buy this book, ever,
By A Customer
This review is from: PC & Electronics: Connecting Your PC to the Outside World (Productivity Series) (Paperback)
The programs do not work! There is very little explanation of the code so it can't be debugged nor is it adequately documented. It seems to be someone's pet project that he typed up. Oh yes, tech support at the publisher, Abacus, is pathetic! Be warned
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
DO. NOT. BUY. THIS. TRASH.,
By colin@ij.net (Florida) - See all my reviews
This review is from: PC & Electronics: Connecting Your PC to the Outside World (Productivity Series) (Paperback)
This is the sorriest excuse for a book I have ever read. I actually became MAD at it while reading it. The author goes into NO depth at all, explains nothing, and to top it all off, uses visual friggin basic to write the programs. I, being a sane person, do not have visual basic. This means I cannot edit the source code. I cannot emphasize it strongly enough: do not buy this piece of trash.
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