CONTROL THE WORLD WITH HPIL



Author: Gary Friedman.

Publisher: Synthetix.   ISBN 0-9612174-9-9

Price: $24.95.

INTRODUCTION

    I quote from page 318, "The universe is all 1's and 0's.  All else is
illusion.  The bits are out there to be crunched--Go get 'em!!"

    Control the World with HPIL illustrates the interface capabilities of the
41 and 71 and is the first book, that I am aware of, that tackles this subject.
The book pulls together hardware, FOCAL, FORTH, BASIC, XIO, DEV ROM, GPIO,
RS232, timers, telephones and photography.

CONTENTS

    Chapter 1 and 2:

    The first chapter covers the basics of HPIL and parallel interfaces. A
    section on Triacs, opto isolators and gates complements this chapter.
    The second chapter gives three simple examples, LED dislay from the GPIO,
    turning AC devices on and off and control of a touch tone generator.

    Chapter 3:
                                                  
    For any one prepared to dismantle the 41 time module the cost of the book
    may be justified for this chapter alone.  There are easily accessed solder
    pads on the module wich allows the stop watch to be remotely controlled and 
    for the alarm to control external circuits.  The cicuit shown allows the 41
    to control a camera's electronic shutter timing.

    Chapter 4:

    A complete darkroom timer is detailed using a 41 to control it with the aid 
    of the HPIL Dev ROM.  The software is an education in its own right.

    Chapter 5:

    Speech synthesis with a 41 seemed a pretty unlikely application until I
    read this chapter.  It makes BEEP seem very boring.

    Chapter 6 and 7:

    The first application is an intelligent autodialer for the 71 followed by
    an answering machine based on the 41 with speech synthesis.  Both
    applications are very powerful.

    Chapter 8:

    Keyboards for the 71 are explained very well covering parallel and serial
    versions.  A specific example is given for the Otrana Keyboard which may be 
    obtained in the USA.
    
    Chapter 9 and 10:
    
    How to open a 71 should be the title of these two chapters.  Once open the
    71 becomes an electronic tape measure and a slide projector dissolve unit.  
    The advantages of programming in FORTH and machine code are very well
    explained.
    
    Chapter 11:
    
    A brief introduction to RS232 covers some of the pitfalls to be found with
    this standard.  The use of an IBM PC as a keyboard for the 71 is given.

    Final Bits:

    The remaining pages give barcode for the programs, sources of non-standard
    items, a dissertation on positive handshake logic, pinouts of common
    IC's and a glossary.
    
CONCLUSIONS

    This is a fascinating book and if you never pick up a screw driver or a
    Torx tool it is still a worthwhile read especially for owners of the GPIO
    interface or the HPIL kit.  As a good read it takes some beating the style
    is most amusing.

John Bruce
164N