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$8000 Solar Subsidy Scrapped
- By Colin Mitchell
- Published Friday 19th 2008
The Australian Government will scrap its $8000 rebate to households installing rooftop solar power and instead require electricity retailers to increase their own solar subsidies because soaring demand had swollen the cost to the budget.
In October alone, almost 1000 households were paid to install 1.35 megawatts of rooftop power, almost as much as in all of 2005.
Industry sources said that while it cost about $12,500 to buy and install a typical 1kW system, bulk schemes organised by local councils had cut the net cost to households to as little as $1500 to $2000, after deducting the $8000 rebate and subsidies of about $1000 from electricity retailers.
The Government will replace the rebate by temporarily requiring retailers to lift the amount they pay households five times over, for systems installed between mid-2009 and mid-2012.
In Melbourne, on current prices, the temporary hike would lift the subsidy from about $800 to $4000 for a 1kW system or $6000 for a 1.5kW system. The cost will be added to electricity bills.
People would now pay up to $5000 more for a 1.5kw system, squeezing them out of the market.
It is only the huge subsidy that makes solar power affordable. The rebate of 3 - 4 cents per kilowatt-hour paid to householders for energy pumped back into the "system" is only a miniscule re-imbursement.
The whole concept of generating your own electricity via solar panels is not yet a viable situation, unless you are in an area where connecting to the electricity grid is over $25,000.
And there are few places in Australia where this exists, as the electricity grid has been extended to every country town and isolated farm as far back as the 50's and 60's when the government introduced "electrification."
PERPETUAL MOTION
- By Colin Mitchell
- Published Wednesday 27th 2008
Do I believe in Perpetual Motion? Yes. Do I believe it is here? No.
There has not been any scientific evidence that any device can rotate indefinitely without any input-energy or produce any output without any input-energy.
We have got very close (even to the extent of 99.9%) but that magical figure of 100% has not been obtained.
That doesn't mean we should not keep trying, but as a practical person I prefer to explore the potentials of using the vast amount of energy that already surrounds us.
The sun provides 1kw per square metre on a brightly-lit day, the wind provides considerable energy in a windy location and the tide, waves and streams provide enormous potential for harnessing energy.
So, to get down to practicalities, let's consider the energy from the sun in the form of solar-cell voltage production and heat via solar-heat collection. (You will need to go to other websites for solar-heat production as we are very interested in this area but it does not involve electronics.)
Some of the new projects we are working on include charging storage cells via a solar panel and using an inverter to provide charging when the panel is not producing a high output. See our solar projects in the index on the left side of the site and these will include links to other projects .
Invention-assistance FRAUD
- By Colin Mitchell
- Published Friday 15th 2008
I almost got caught by the Davison Invention assistance company. I have a
number of products that need development and Davison had sent me emails as
to how they had assisted so many inventors with their inventions. It all sounded "so easy."
I sent them an outline of the idea. It was an electronic module for greeting cards. When you open the card, it contains a game such as a Reaction Timer to test your reaction. Two pressure-sensitive buttons and a 7-segment display tested the players timing. The 7-segment display was made from LEDs and was low-profile.
The module needed to be made in tens of thousands to keep the price low.
Davison looked at the idea and gave it the "go ahead."
Then they phoned me with the spiel that they needed to do a patent search for $685.
I said I could do that myself, and anyway these ideas cannot be found in any greeting cards.
Davison said it was imperative that they do the search before taking on the idea.
I told them that anyone taking on my invention would need to do their own "due diligence" and anything I provided would have to be verified by them.
That was not good enough for Davison.
I said I had absolutely no intention of parting with $685 for a search.
Davison then hung up the phone on me.
I then thought I would Google "Davison."
What a surprise!
A whole website has been set up, exposing the fraudulent behavior of this company. Some inventors have parted with $10,000 and more, developing prototypes and packaging so Davison can show a photo of all the products they have "developed." None of these products have actually reached the shop shelves. They are all prototypes in prototype packaging and some inventors have been strung along for 2 years!
In this world, there are only two things you can rely on. And they are on the end of your own two arms.
Getting an invention to market is not easy and is fraught with dangers and high costs. It certainly does not need a "Davison FRAUD" company to enter the picture.
Even getting a thing produced overseas is not easy as most manufacturers have a range of products and they are not really equipped to produce something new.
If you can find a company that produces something similar to yours, you have a slim chance that they can help, but most of the components in a product are made by other, smaller, companies and you will never be able to actually reach the manufacturer.
Secondly, companies do not have the money to develop any of your ideas and the cost of development is very high.
This means you will not make a cent out of the first 10,000 items and that's why you need to look at very large quantities.
I don't want to put you off, but don't think any of the items in a $2.00 store have appeared overnight. Everything is a lot of work and even the packaging and labeling needs a considerable amount of attention.
If you have any "electronic idea" that you want mass-produced, let me know as I have now found reliable contacts in China and the modules are getting organized.
Get-Rich-Quick Schemes
- By Colin Mitchell
- Published Friday 1st 2008
How do you know if a "Get-Rich-Quick Scheme" is a FRAUD?It's simple. They are ALL FRAUD.
I am constantly being bombarded with emails on: "how to get rich quick."
They are all either fraud or simply a business designed to "rope-in" your friends and family.
Many of them are a "Pyramid Scheme" in which you get a commission when you get 5 or 10 friends to join.
I have asked 3 promoters of "million dollar" schemes to fax me a copy of their Tax Return (the only true indication of their wealth). I have never received a reply.
Before you join any "scheme," ask to see the Tax Return for the business. A non-reply will answer all your questions.
The latest is a revised version of the "Nigerian Money Scam." It asks for assistance in transferring money into your account. If you see an email with "$1,000,000" on it, delete it immediately. This is the quickest way to get rid or your junk emails. I get hundreds like this EVERY DAY!
Our latest email:
- By Colin Mitchell
- Published Sunday 27th 2008
Hi,
Just sent in my order for the Pic Lab 1 and the Multi Programmer.
FYI, I attend Burning Man every year and there is a whole range of amazing
projects out there. Go to:
Cubatron if you want an example of one.
Many projects use LED's, EL wire and other electronics to achieve
interesting effects. This past summer I built two four foot long
geckos out of conduit and cyclone fence wire based on a 6"
beaded wire gecko sculpture I have at home, a very cute art
piece.
I used a PIC-driven RGB color wash board to illuminate the eyeballs of the
two geckos, and I strung 400-500 colored LED's on the ribs to form a
beautiful animated skin on the pieces.
It came out pretty well. My ambition and goal is to make similar creatures
that are solar powered and animated by PIC chips and LED's. The Cubatron
illustrates what can be done with network addressable LED's. I'm hoping to
work my way up to doing something like that on my pieces.
Thanks. Looking forward to getting the kit and getting started.
Todd
Todd@infoasis.com
An email from a constructor:
Two years ago I purchased a pre-made PIC-lab 1 and multi-chip
programmer. It has been one of the greatest investments I have
made. I have since taught my self how to program PICs and
developed many ideas into working breadboard prototypes. All of
this was possible due to the amazing wealth of information on
the site and CD. Not only have I been so pleased with the
hardware, which is still my only programmer I use but also with
the support I have received since my purchase so long ago.
Thanks for such a great experience Talking Electronics.
Jim
Chicago, il USA
Another
email from a constructor:
I have just completed another
kit I purchased from you (my second PIC LICK).
Excellent kit as usual!
I usually use my own solder
when soldering but this time I used the one in the kit.
I found this solder to be
excellent - far superior to the Kester type I am using.
Could you to tell me what brand and where I can purchase it?
For your information I have also built a couple of kits from
Germany (KENO kits).
They are complete junk! If I didn't need them for a
client I would have thrown them
in the garbage. Your kits are by far the best I have ever
built, followed by CANAKIT
and then by Quasar in England.
Best regards,
Rodney Luck
We are the first
kit manufacturer in Australia to provide solder with all kits. It is 0.71mm
diameter with 5 cores of flux. It improves the quality of your soldering by
at least 200% and makes you look like a professional. The secret is its
fineness. You will not believe how it will improve your soldering. Try it. I
did and I have never used thick
solder since.
- Colin
And from another constructor:
Thanks
for publishing your 5x7 LED matrix project. I doubled the size of the
display to 7x10 and designed the board in Proteus 7.1 I made the project and it works
fine.
I changed the programs so the logic is inverted. In my design the port sees
0v when a button is pushed. The photo below shows the final design:
7x10 Matrix from one of our readers
Gustavo - from Columbia
This is exactly what we want you to do.
It's only when you change something and it works, can you say you really understand what you are doing. This is a perfect example of "going further!"
-Colin
Poptronics
- By Colin Mitchell
- Published Friday 11th 2008
Any subscribers who have/had a subscription to
POPTRONICS
Interactive will be entitled to
receive a lifetime entry to
TALKING ELECTRONICS
Interactive (this site) by contacting (Colin Mitchell).
All subscriptions entitle you to a lifetime entry to the site - not just a "one year" or "one month" entry!
POPTRONICS
It was sad to see the demise of POPTRONICS. The magazine had a history of more than 50 years of publishing with its forerunners going back to the days of electricity and crystal sets.
It was one of the editions (under a previous name) that presented the world's first computer in kit-form. Even though it did almost nothing (compared to today's standards), it started a revolution that is today's "miracle of electronics."
Don't be fooled. It was not the corporate enterprises that created the interest in computers. It was the back-yard hobbyist. It was the enthusiasm of programmers that turned the computer from a number-crunching scientific monster to a household, user-friendly, product.
And for this you can thank brilliant hobbyists/programmers. They were all phenomenally clever - even thinking of the @ sign for an email address is brilliant!
Computers were originally the size of a room and cost $1,000,000. After spending a year or more on simplifying the design and reducing the size, IBM came up with a $15,000 desk-top product that was enormously complex and almost impossible for the average user to get operational. It flopped totally.
It was the kit (mentioned above) and lots of hobbyists that changed the whole picture. They produced software and games that absolutely exploded the capabilities of the computer.
The two things that accelerated this was the concept of exchanging programs AT NO COST and COMPUTER SWAP-MEETS - these concepts are completely foreign to "industry."
Exactly the same explosion took place with the internet, to make it the most valuable technological introduction of the past 20 years.
Again, you can thank the "hobbyist."
It is undeniable that an enormous amount of capability lies in the hands of "you" and "me," the hobbyist. That's why we are so important. That's why it is such a pity that we have not banded together to create an electronics hobbyist's magazine for the "paper-formatted" market. Unfortunately this hasn't happened and it was sad to see POPTRONICS go.
This site is produced by Colin Mitchell and the approach is completely different to anything you have seen before. We answer your emails and help you with anything within our capability. We are here to help you achieve a goal. This must be of an electronics nature - as this is our only field of expertise. We have been active in this field for the past 30 years and are fully conversant with the basics.
The Amazing Web
- By Colin Mitchell
- Published Tuesday 1st 2008
I have always said the web
is the most amazing "product, item or thing" to be invented
in the 20th Century, and this has been confirmed by a recent
email.It said the majority of Americans spend more time on the internet than watching television!
It went on the say 160,000 new customers are signing up for the internet each week.
You can multiply this figure many-fold when you include world-wide subscriptions and as new features are added to search engines, you will find it much easier to reach the type of sites you are looking for.
You may not realize it, but the Internet started in 1963 as ARPAnet - an Advanced Research Program of the US Military.
It was designed to get messages through, no matter what happened or which computers (& areas) were no longer accessible. Over time their suppliers were added in, then the Universities & Libraries, and eventually the world.
There were no graphics then - everything was done in UNIX commands.
By the 80's, users could visit the CERN labs in Switzerland, Chiba University in Japan, and the archives of the University of New South Wales in Australia and download the info ... all with a 2400-baud dial-up modem!
But things rapidly improved.
In 1994 the "Internet" was replaced with the "World Wide Web."
Suddenly we were thrust into an arena of brilliant graphics, flashing text & a whole lot of really great designs. In the 12 years since then, everything has evolved. No one could foresee how HTML would evolve, languages like PHP and Java would enter, modems would go from 2400 baud to broadband - or the rise of entities like Yahoo! and Google.
It's SO different we really shouldn't even refer to it as the Internet any more. Everything since 1994 has just been incremental - little steps that constantly upgraded the users experience. Overall they had a major impact, but not any one step itself. The next MAJOR change is already underway, though really just taking it's first steps.
This year, 2006, will see the first real strides in converting the Web to an audio-video universe - complete with infomercials.
We've all seen small videos online, and audio is becoming more prevalent every day. But as of the end of 2005, half of all American Internet connections are broadband, using either cable or phone lines for the most part. And numbers are similar in many parts of the world.
This will enable full-screen recorded video or live streaming video sites to come.
We are in the process of producing small videos of our kits and products to show how they operate.
Keep watching for more news about this.
We have added two pages of links we found very interesting and they can be found here: P1 links P2 Links
Junk Emails
- By Colin Mitchell
- Published Saturday 28th 2008
Just when I thought the internet was going to provide us
with better communications, we find scammers and junk email
clogging up the works. I thought the time was ripe for a global network of technical information to be introduced via this amazing medium.
No only would it arrive instantly, but it could be presented in full color, at almost no cost and consist of text, photos, animations and audio links.
By combining the output from universities, R&D departments, technical journals, Patents Office and other technical resources, we could have the most up-to-date information at our fingertips each day.
Technology is advancing and changing so rapidly that some technical electronics journals are now being printed every 2 weeks - as an indication of the need for immediate information.
Imagine the savings in paper, printing and postage, to have the "magazine" sent to each subscriber via the internet!
I wonder why it hasn't happened?
Maybe the number of subscribers with internet access (or regular use of the internet) is smaller than we think?
Maybe I'm thinking too far into the future.
I know it will happen.
It's the future and it's a brilliant concept.
Can you imagine getting all the latest articles, journals, projects and releases from around the world, each day?
Each newsletter would consist of thumbnail photo's, a brief description and a link.
By clicking the link you would be taken to the full article.
Surely this is not too difficult? It's just a matter of getting all the separate sectors to combine.
I had hoped the technology sector would have done this by now, rather than junk email operators filling up the internet, sending me phony emails to say I had won $2,000,000 in a lottery, or $500 cash from a casino!
Not only am I receiving 95% junk but they are all fraud!
Even low interest loans or $2,000 cash into your account, are either deceptive or fraud. They all have to be deleted. But you need to be careful not to mix them up with an email from a legitimate source.
"Scam Software" or any form of filtering is useless as it cannot differentiate between a request and a scam . . .unfortunately I have to laboriously go through every email!
The filtering networks consider the short note I send to subscribers as "SPAM!" This proves filtering is absurd! What word or combination of words could I possibly use in a short note to infer you don't want to receive my message?
And the most stupid part is, university teachers apply the filter to my emails and don't get my messages! What can I say?
How can we reduce junk emails and increase technical thru-put?
The big problem is the technology sector does not provide enough funding to keep the internet profitable. It takes fraudsters to keep it operating!
What a distorted world!
A Career
- By Colin Mitchell
- Published Tuesday 17th 2008
It doesn't matter if you want to sell electronic items, design
them; or build them, you will need to "talk" like you know the
subject. This "talk" is called "jargon." It uses correct
terminology as well as short words such as "micky" for microfarad,
"puff" for picofarad and bezel for the covering over a globe (not
benzel or beeeezel), to name a few. This is the sort of thing we will be teaching
you, as well as the basics of electronics and how to program
microcontrollers. The site contains two sections - the FREE section and the subscription section containing the Basic Electronics Course and PIC Microcontroller Course.
There are hundreds of pages of theory, notes and projects for the beginner-to-electronics as well as the hobbyist. You need to go to FREE projects and Subscription Index to see the content and go through the pages methodically, to prevent missing anything. The web is the medium of the future. Printing costs are zero, the pages are endless and color can be added at no extra expense. But unlike a book, you cannot see how much is available as it is "hidden" on our server. That's why you have to go though things slowly.
Once you get the "hang of things," it will prove to be everything you have ever wanted.
To make sure you are kept up to date with the latest additions to the site, sign up for FREE projects .
You will not be bombarded with advertisements but the cost of the site will have to be covered and that's why our back-up features including the sale of kits, CD's, subscriptions to the PIC Programming Course and Basic Electronics Course will be promoted throughout the pages.
Hopefully, other contributors will be adding to the site. Some schools have informed me they will be presenting their material on the web and I will let you know as soon as this is available. It has been 12 months now and nothing has been received!
This site has over 400 pages. Rather than download the 30Meg of material, our CD is a convenient way to peruse it.
At the moment we are the only interactive site on the web and the feedback we are getting is enormous. Readers are saying they are starting to understand electronics in a way they have never experienced before. With a little bit of effort, you can learn too.
The Site
- By Colin Mitchell
- Published Tuesday 10th 2008
The layout of this site is exactly like our CD with frames to make
everything easy to navigate. The CD of the site is available to
subscribers and non-subscribers by clicking the "FREE CD"
or "Buy CD"
link on the left. If you are a subscriber to
TALKING ELECTRONICS
Interactive (this site), the CD is
FREE. If you are not a
subscriber, the cost is $9.95 posted. (All prices on this website
are
US$)The emphasis is to TEACH ELECTRONICS and not merely "present an item." Everything is backed by a kit of components and a professionally-made PC board with overlay (legend), tinned-lands and solder mask.
The author of the site is Colin Mitchell. He has produced over 25 books and sold over 750,000 copies, spanning some 20 years.
All his knowledge has now been channeled into this website and you will find his approach is completely revolutionary. Some say it's "Mitchellism," some say it is "reverse-learning" and others liken it to being "thrown in at the deep end."
In essence, the thrust is to get you to start putting projects together as soon as possible and go to the theory sections as the need arises.
This has proven to be a much faster way of learning as enthusiasm is maintained, and the act of handling components cements your understanding.
That's what this site is all about.
It's designed to make electronics fun.
It offers a wide range of projects , from a simple "Light the LED" design to a microcontroller project - and lots of ideas between.
The site offers two main courses. BASIC ELECTRONICS and PIC MICROCONTROLLER PROGRAMMING. In these courses, mathematics has been kept to a minimum as there are plenty of text books to weigh you down with formulas.
Our aim is to "shoot you ahead" as fast as possible and show that once you get an "interest in electronics" - you can be heading for a career-path.
We have a number of letters and articles on the site, from readers who have made a career-path along the lines we are promoting. You will see these as you work your way through the material.