Using Virtual Wiring In An Age Of Instant Solutions

The subject of this article is virtual wiring or wires. So what do I mean by virtual? Usually if one wants to connect a digital signal to a relay then one has a circuit which drives the coil, this pulls in the relay contacts and this creates an isolated switch which may be used to provide power to a light or other suitably rated appliance. If the distance between the initiating signal and the appliance is great then one has a choice of either extending the digital signal with a long piece of wire or extending the switch side with long wiring. This seems to be a simple solution but in many cases, extending the wiring may not be the answer if the extension is complex, not aesthetically pleasing or many wires are involved.

The solution is virtual wiring and this can be implemented in a number of different ways.

1) If some wiring already exists then by virtue of multiplexing (combining many signals into one compound signal) and demultiplexing (taking one compound signal and expanding it again into many) electronics on either side, existing wiring can be used if an increase in the number of switches is required without laying extra cable.

2) The mux/demux solution can also be implemented with the use of fiber optics, where the compound signal is transported by means of modulated light.

3) Another transport medium is rf (radio frequency) In this age of Zigbee and other wireless standards, the compound signal can be transmitted through the air without any visible means. The simplest implementation would be a switch (or eight or more) on the near side being closed, detected by the monitoring electronics, assembled into some kind of protocol, transmitted wirelessly, received by the far unit, disassembled and the relevant relay or other switch mechanism would then be toggled. This would allow lights, appliances and other devices to be controlled without the addition of any control wiring.

The natural extension of this type of virtual wiring is to extend analogue signals as well. An example of this could be an appliance/device that needs to be set at a particular value. This value could be read (using a A/D converter) at the near side, assembled and transmitted as described previously and then output to the device in question as an analogue signal (using a D/A converter).

The one drawback of this type of signal extension method is that there will invariably be a delay between switch pushed/signal read and the corresponding action on the far side. Usually however a small delay is acceptable and other high speed methods exist for signals that require a higher bandwidth.

Marc Jarchow
47 year old entrepeneur providing MODular ElecTRONics solutions for the Professional (custom instruments for your business), Educator (can be used as a training aid), Entrepeneur (can be packaged with your logo) and Hobbyist (make your own home based products) using low cost modules to create whatever application you have in mind. This is all done via modetron.com

Car Audio Wiring

A significant part of your entire car audio system consists of just wires. There are all kinds of cables and wires involved in installing a car audio system. You have power wires, speaker wires, amplifier cables, power capacitors, and what not. It is always better to be equipped with at least the basics before you go in for car audio installation.

The power wire is an important part of the amplifier installation. Select the proper gauge and fusing. A proper gauge prevents the amplifier from being choked off by the size limitations of the wire. Choose power wires with lots of strands, so that they are easier to install and don't break while passing through the numerous corners of the car. The jacket of the wire should be of a material, which can resist chemicals like oil and battery acids, which can wreak havoc on substandard wires.

You can go for wires with large number of strands for the car audio speaker wires. The jacket is not that important in this case, because the speaker is not placed in regions where it could encounter chemicals, as in the case of power wires. Oxygen free copper wiring is always recommended for car audio speaker wires. The size of the speaker wiring depends on the power going in to your speakers and the total length between the amplifier and the speakers.

Signal cables are otherwise known as RCA cables and assume importance for their noise rejection properties. Try and go in for a quality RCA cable, which would ensure trouble free performance in the long run. It is recommended that you go in for "twisted pair" cables. They are better at noise reduction. Needless to say, the quality of wires connecting car audio power capacitors and batteries should also be good.

One can find extensive information on car audio wiring by visiting online resources on the subject. Perhaps car audio professionals are best placed to offer you great advice on car audio wiring.

Car Audio provides detailed information on Car Audio, Discount Car Audio, Wholesale Car Audio, Car Audio Systems and more. Car Audio is affiliated with Car Stereo Installations.

Structured Wiring | Technology Backbone

Today's new homes are much more technologically advanced than in the past. One of the biggest advances lately is the use of "structured wiring" in homes. Structured wiring consists of installing a bundled wire package that typically contains two RG6 and two Cat5e or Cat6 cables. The cables are bundled together into one larger plastic sheath to make it much easier to install as one unit. Some of the new structured wire bundles even include fiber optic cables as well.

Each room of the house will have a home run structure wire group run to a central location (basement, utility room, closet, etc.) The beauty of this system is you can run almost any technology over this system. The new wiring becomes the backbone of your electronic components. Some homeowners may not use all of the wires in the beginning, however as new products and technology develop the structured wiring will allow simple upgrades in the future.

In my new house we are currently using the structured wiring in the following way. Each room has a outlet with 4 ports, two RG6, one telephone and one Cat5e. In this configuration we run two telephone lines to each room, one cable TV line and one Cat5e line that has Internet and network signals. The second RG6 cable is inactive for the time being. In the utility room in the basement the Internet service is over the cable service. A cable modem is installed next to the structured wiring panel and then it is connected to a simple network router. The network router is then connected back to the structured wiring panel and distributed to each room.

The structured wiring method will allow us to add many features in the future as we need them. We could add video cameras, who house audio, play DVDs in one room and watch them in another or create a simple home network. The possibilities are endless and as more electronic components are created with IP addresses and ports it will become much easier to integrate all of our favorite electronics into a smart home feature.

If you're interested in this new technology ask your electrician for more information. If you're interested in installing it yourself, read How Do I Install Structured Wiring.

Todd Fratzel, P.E. is a building superintendent for a construction firm in New Hampshire. In addition to supervising the construction of new homes Todd is a registered professional engineer in the New Hampshire and Massachusetts and has an extensive back ground in building structures. For additional articles like this one see his blog at http://homeconstructionimprovement.blogspot.com

Tips On Wiring A Doll's House

Lighting warms a doll?s house and adds atmosphere. It's not hard to do but requires some planning. Here are a few tips to help you on your way.

There are different ways you can wire a dolls house. I opted for the standard round wire system as it seemed the easiest and cheapest.

You need a socket strip with at least 12 sockets, a fuse and an on off switch and a transformer. Each individual light is then plugged into the strip either directly or via an extension cable.

Assemble the shell of house then think about where your lights and wiring are going to go...it's NOT something you can do at the end. For a ceiling light paint or paper the roof of the room then drill a small hole in the centre and feed the wire through to the room above. My floors /ceilings are MDF so it was quite easy to then make a groove with a wood chisel from the hole to the back of the house...the wire runs along the groove and when covered with carpet can't be seen. Finally make a small hole, near the floor, in the back wall for the wire to go through and plug into socket strip.

You need to plan the lighting and cut your grooves before decorating.

Wall lights are most easily fitted to rear walls. Decorate the wall then drill a hole for the wire to pass through.

It?s really not difficult and brings the house to life.

Joolz has recently built a doll's house from kit form. If you found this article helpful you can pick up more tips on lighting and decor at http://www.mydollshouse.info

Wiring Accessories from Nelco: Identify, Bundle and Protect

A full line of wiring accessories featuring custom hot-stamping to commercial and military specifications, along with kitting and packaging, is now available exclusively from Nelco Products, Inc. of Pembroke Massachusetts!

Nelco Wiring Accessories for identifying, bundling, and protecting wire harnesses and cables include various types of cable ties, computer printable markers and labels, sleeves and tapes for wire routing and protection, molded shapes, custom hot stamped sleeves as well as heavy- and thin-wall heat shrinkable tubing, conduit and spiral wrap.

Capable of marking, cutting, and packaging products to exacting customer requirements, Nelco can imprint and label cable ties, cut and mark tubing and sleeving and package them into kits, polybags with headers or labeled boxes. Hot-stamping can be furnished to meet MIL-M-81531 and MIL-M-81594 specifications.

Nelco Wiring Accessories and value-added services are priced according to customer requirements. Additional literature, samples and price quotations are available upon request. Most wiring accessory orders ship within 5 business days courtesy of UPS ground. Order your wiring and cable accessories from Nelco Products today for best pricing and availability!

Nelco Products, Inc. Amy Greenberg, Marketing 22 Riverside Dr. Pembroke, MA 02359 (800) 346-3526 FAX (781) 826-7344 e-mail: info@nelcoproducts.com Nelco Wiring Accessories http://www.nelcoproducts.com

VW Wiring (1998 And Later Models)

The radios in VW cars (1998 model and onwards) use an amplified aerial for improved radio reception. This amplifier is built into the base of the aerial and is powered by a feed from the stereo. This power feed is sent down the center of the aerial cable.

Therefore, if the factory-fitted stereo is replaced with an aftermarket unit, the aerial will no longer get this power feed and the amplifier in the aerial will not be turned on. This will result in poor radio reception.

To solve this problem you will need a VW aerial adapter. This takes the electric aerial output of an aftermarket stereo and combines it with the aerial socket to supply power to the amplifier in the aerial.

The other difference that post 1998 Volkwagen car radios have is their power connection. . .

Stereos require 2 power feeds. One is a constant feed that is always live whether you have the key in the ignition or not (this keeps the memory settings, clock etc). The other is a switched live which gets a feed when the ignition key is turned.

Although VW car radios use an ISO connection block for their stereo wiring (the same as all aftermarket stereos) you cannot simply plug it straight in. On later Volkswagen car radios, the pin configuration of these two power wires is reversed. If you plug it straight in, the stereo will work fine. However, it will lose all of it's memory settings once you switch it off.

To solve this problem, you will need a VW wiring adaptor. This will plug into your VW wiring harness at one end and the aftermarket stereo at the other end. In between these two points, the adaptor swaps over the location of the two power wires. This takes care of the problem.

This store specializes in car audio. I give them thumbs up -- I work with them daily (so I know their business philosophy -- customer satisfaction) . However, if your country is not served by them, you can still get other recommendations at car-audio-products-and-accessories.com

Chimezirim Odimba writes for CarAudioPlus.

Shaping Your Bonsai - Wiring and Anchoring Techniques

An important part of the art of Bonsai is guiding the tree into the desired shape. If you follow the traditional Japanese style of Bonsai you will try to create a tree like one that can be found in nature, but you may exaggerate some of the elements for style purposes.

You will have to know what you want your tree to look like before you can start shaping it. You should be able create an image in your mind of exactly how you want your tree to appear. Once you have decided on the style and shape there are several methods used to guide your bonsai into the shape you desire.

Two very common and basic methods of shaping the tree are wiring and anchoring.

Wiring

When you wire a tree you use a metal wire to hold a section of the tree into the shape that you want. Wiring has the advantage of training the tree to the desired shape quicker than most other methods.

Since it is softer aluminum wire is used to wire most branches. When using aluminum wire you will need to use a thicker wire to hold the branch in place. The thicker wire is less likely to cut into the bark, which greatly reduces the risk of scarring. When training heavier branches or changing the shape of the trunk a stronger wire will be needed. In this case you will probably need to use copper or even steel wire.

To wire a branch you simply wrap the branch with wire and then gently bend it into the position that you want. You leave the wire in place to hold the branch until it is capable of holding that shape unassisted. Once you wire a branch you will need to watch it closely to be sure that the branch has not thickened to the point that the wire is cutting into the bark. You need to be especially vigilant with deciduous trees because they tend to thicken in spurts.

You should always start your wire on thicker branches and work your way up to the thinner ones.

Your wiring job will be more stable if you use one wire to wire two branches.

If you notice your wire getting tight remove it to avoid scarring. If the branch still will not stay in position you can re-wrap it to accommodate its new size. Anchoring

Frequently a branch that is several years old will be too thick, in this case wiring the branch will not be very effective. For branches like this anchoring will probably work better. Anchoring works by pulling the branch into the position you want and keeping it there.

You start by looping a wire or string over the branch you want to anchor. Any place that the string or wire touches the tree you will need to protect the bark by covering the wire or string with a soft rubber tube. The other end is secured to the container or another branch to hold the limb in the position you want. If you secure it to another branch be sure to use the protective tubing on this end as well, you also need to be sure that you do not pull the anchor limb out of it's position.

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