Pertamax Lebih Baik! (Pertamax is Better!)

Salam Para Pembaca,

Melalui tulisan ini Saya ingin menyampaikan sedikit pengalaman sekaligus fakta menarik mengenai PERTAMAX, salah satu jenis bahan bakar untuk kendaraan bermotor dari olahan minyak bumi, dengan kualitasnya yang sangat baik.

Seperti yang kita tahu, bahwa minyak bumi diolah dengan sedemikian rupa sehingga menghasilkan berbagai produk bahan bakar hingga produk-produk lainnya. Dari pengolahan kualitas tinggi yang menghasilkan produk kualitas tinggi pula seperti aftur (bahan bakar pesawat terbang), kemudian untuk kendaraan bermotor dihasilkan Pertamax plus, Pertamax, Premium dan Solar, hingga produk kualitas paling rendah (residual/ sisa) yaitu aspal.

Pertamax termasuk kedalam bahan bakar dengan kualitas yang sangat baik. Kualitas ini dinyatakan dari apa yang disebut dengan bilangan oktan pada suatu bahan bakar. Secara sederhana, bilangan oktan adalah suatu angka yang menunjukkan seberapa besar tekanan yang bisa diberikan kepada bahan bakar sebelum terbakar secara spontan (terbakar dengan sendirinya), yang terjadi pada ruang mesin. Untuk mengetahui lebih dalam mengenai bilangan oktan ini tentu Anda dapat meninjaunya dari aspek kimia yaitu mengenai rantai karbon. Namun secara umum, bilangan oktan dapat menyatakan ketahanan bahan bakar terhadap kompresi (tekanan piston) untuk tidak terbakar dengan sendirinya. Atau dengan kata lain tidak terbakar sebelum dibakar oleh percikan api dari busi.

Bila Anda menggunakan bahan bakar dengan nilai oktan rendah, kemungkinan dari pembakaran spontan ini sangat mungkin terjadi. Dan dampak dari pembakaran spontan ini sangat merugikan karena menyebabkan mesin menjadi lebih cepat panas, dan pada akhirnya dapat merusak mesin terutama bagian piston. Ini terjadi karena adanya tabrakan antara ledakan bahan bakar yang terbakar sendirinya dengan bahan bakar yang dinyalakan busi. Tentu ini akan sangat merugikan dan Anda tentu tidak ingin hal ini terjadi pada kendaraan Anda.

Namun berbeda halnya bila Anda menggunakan bahan bakar dengan bilangan oktan yang tinggi seperti Pertamax. Efek pembakaran spontan ini tentu dapat dihindari sehingga menjadikan mesin kendaraan Anda jauh lebih awet. Selain menghindarkan dari dampak pembakaran spontan, bahan bakar dengan bilangan oktan yang tinggi juga akan menghasilkan pembakaran yang lebih sempurna karena kemampuannya yang dapat dikompresi hingga volume yang sangat kecil tersebut. Dengan pembakaran yang sempurna, tidak ada bahan bakar yang tersisa pada mesin sehingga energi yang didapat akan jauh lebih besar. Energi dalam kaitannya dengan kendaraan yaitu daya dorong atau laju kendaraan Anda. Dengan pembakaran yang lebih sempurna ini tentu kendaraan akan memiliki “tarikan” yang lebih baik dari sebelumnya. Dari pembakaran sempurna ini juga akan menghasilkan gas buang yang jauh lebih bersih dibanding bahan bakar nilai oktan rendah lainnya. Dengan demikian Anda pada dasarnya telah memiliki beberapa kuntungan dengan menggunakan Pertamax pada kendaraan Anda, sekaligus menjadi lebih ramah terhadap lingkungan dengan gas buang yang jauh lebih bersih.

Untuk membuktikan hal ini, Sayapun beralih dari Premium ke Pertamax sejak bulan lalu (dari tulisan ini dibuat). Sejak pertama kali menggunakan Pertamax, Saya tidak membutuhkan waktu yang lama untuk dapat merasakan perbedaan yang luar biasa dari “tarikan” kendaran Saya (sepeda motor Automatic 110cc). Dari suara dan getaran mesin juga jauh lebih halus dari sebelumnya dan tarikan kendaraan terasa lebih “ringan”. Jika Anda memang terbiasa menggunakan kendaraan Anda saat ini, Saya yakin Anda pasti dapat mengetahui hal tersebut walaupun pada dasarnya Anda bukanlah seorang yang begitu mengerti mengenai mesin atau otomotif. Anda pasti mengenali performa kendaraan Anda sendiri. Dan hal inilah yang Saya alami. Saya benar-benar merasakan performa yang lebih baik dari sebelumnya. Sejak menggunakan Pertamax, kendaraan dapat dengan mudah Saya pacu hingga batas maksimum (tuas gas terputar maksimum) dan menyentuh angka 100 km/jam. Tentu Saya bukan bermaksud mengajarkan Anda untuk melakukan kebut-kebutan dijalan, namun dari penjelasan tersebut terlihat bahwa memang tarikan mesin jauh lebih “ringan” dari sebelumnya. Ini semua karena keunggulan-keunggulan yang dimiliki Pertamax seperti yang telah dijelaskan diatas.

Sebagai penutup, Saya ingin mengajak seluruh konsumen bahan bakar di Indonesia untuk mulai melakukan hal yang lebih baik. Dengan menggunakan Pertamax sebenarnya Anda telah mendapatkan beberapa keuntungan yang tidak Anda dapatkan sebelumnya. Anda akan merawat mesin kendaraan Anda jauh lebih baik dari sebelumnya. Dan tentunya, Anda telah terlibat dalam usaha untuk menjadi lebih ramah terhadap lingkungan dengan gas buang kendaraan yang jauh lebih bersih. Jadi, Sayapun akan tetap meneruskan trend positif ini dimasa yang akan datang, begitu juga Anda bukan?

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Dual LED Flasher

 
 

          The circuit above is actually a multivibrator, i.e. a free-running miltivibrator. It's identical to a flip-flop that triggers itself repeatedly. Q1 and Q2 are general purpose PNP transistors (2N3906, 2N2907, etc). R1 and R2 limit the current to the LEDs (which flash alternately). Increasing the values of C1 and C2 will slow the flash rate.


   

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HJSplit (Software for Splitting and Joining File)

    

HJ-Split is a software that can be used to split and join a file with very easy steps.

How to split files:
1. run HJ-Split and select Split
2. select the file you want to split (input file)
3. specify the location of the split (output file)
4. You can specify the partition size of the file you want on the split file size option (in KB or MB)
5. click start
6. DONE!

How to join files (only for files that are splitted using HJ-Split):
1. run HJ-Split and select Join
2. select the file you want to join (input file), ie files with extension .001
3. specify the location of the join
4. click start
5. DONE!

Download HJ-Split

Have fun.. ;-)

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[update] ISIS Proteus Simulator 7.6 SP4

    
    

Here's I give you the newer version of ISIS Proteus Simulator, a powerful tool for learning about electronics circuit (the previous version of Proteus Simulator that I share on this blog is version 7.1). Here's the screenshot:

 

It looks much better and it has an attractive UI, and of course supported also by libraries that are richer than ever. You can see it in the component mode and then pick the device, seen many new components that do not exist in version 7.1. Hope You like it. Have fun :-)


For direct and easily download, this file is partitioned into several sections. You can merge the files of this partition using HJSplit software.

Download Proteus Simulator 7.6 SP4 (total file size is 68 MB)
part1
part2
part3
part4

Note: for Windows Vista and Windows 7 you must run it as an administrator by right click on the file and select "run as an administrator".

if You have never known what it was Proteus Simulator, here's the introduction ;-)


What is Proteus Simulator?

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555 Timer Chip

       
          The 555 timer chip is probably the most versatile non-programmable part I have ever seen. Over the past 40 years, many people have created at least hundreds probably thousands of applications that have used this chip in ways I’m sure the original designer never would have thought possible; the original function of the chip was to provide a regular train of pulses. In this section, I will show how the chip is used in a circuit, along with some of the tricks that can be performed with it.

The 555 is usually built into an eight pin ‘‘dual in-line package’’ that is commonly used for chips. In Figure above, I have put in an ‘‘overhead’’ view of the 555, along with a photograph of an actual 555 chip.
          Looking at the labels for each of the pins, most of them do not make a lot of sense. What should jump out at you is the ‘‘Gnd’’ (ground) at Pin 1 and the ‘‘Vcc’’ (positive power) at Pin 8. These two pins are used to provide power for the part; they match the power pins I’ve presented elsewhere for digital devices elsewhere in the book.
          To try and get a better understanding of a chip, I'll discussed with detail explanation about this topic later, wait for my next posting..


to be continued..


 

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The Multivibrator

 
   
          Multivibrators, like the familiar sinusoidal oscillators, are circuits with regenerative feedback, with the difference that they produce pulsed output. There are three basic types of multivibrator, namely the Bistable Multivibrator, the Monostable Multivibrator and the Astable Multivibrator.

1. Bistable Multivibrator

          A bistable multivibrator circuit is one in which both LOW and HIGH output states are stable. Irrespective of the logic status of the output, LOW or HIGH, it stays in that state unless a change is induced by applying an appropriate trigger pulse. As we will see in the subsequent pages, the operation of a bistable multivibrator is identical to that of a flip-flop.

          Figure 1 shows the basic bistable multivibrator circuit. This is the fixed-bias type of bistable multivibrator. Other configurations are the self-bias type and the emitter-coupled type. However, the operational principle of all types is the same. The multivibrator circuit of Fig. 1 functions as follows. In the circuit arrangement of Fig. 1 it can be proved that both transistors Q₁ and Q₂ cannot be simultaneously ON or OFF. If Q₁ is ON, the regenerative feedback ensures that Q₂ is OFF, and when Q₁ is OFF, the feedback drives transistor Q₂ to the ON state. In order to vindicate this statement, let us assume that both Q₁ and Q₂ are conducting simultaneously. Owing to slight circuit imbalance, which is always there, the collector current in one transistor will always be greater than that in the other. Let us assume that I_C2 > I_C1. Lesser I_C1 means a higher V_C1. Since V_C1 is coupled to the Q₂ base, a rise in V_C1 leads to an increase in the Q₂ base voltage. Increase in the Q₂ base voltage results in an increase in I_C2 and an associated reduction in V_C2 Reduction in V_C2 leads to a reduction in Q₁ base voltage and an associated fall in I_C1, with the result that V_C1 increases further. Thus, a slight circuit imbalance has initiated a regenerative action that culminates in transistor Q₁ going to cut-off and transistor Q₂ getting driven to saturation. To sum up, whenever there is a tendency of one of the transistors to conduct more than the other, it will end up with that transistor going to saturation and driving the other transistor to cut-off. Now, if we take the output from the Q₁ collector, it will be LOW (= V_CE1 sat.) if Q₁ was initially in saturation. If we apply a negative-going trigger to the Q₁ base to cause a decrease in its collector current, a regenerative action would set in that would drive Q₂ to saturation and Q₁ to cut-off. As a result, the output goes to a HIGH (=+V_CC) state. The output will stay HIGH until we apply another appropriate trigger to initiate a transition. Thus, both of the output states, when the output is LOW and also when the output is HIGH, are stable and undergo a change only when a transition is induced by means of an appropriate trigger pulse. That is why it is called a bistable multivibrator.

2. Monostable Multivibrator

          A monostable multivibrator, also known as a monoshot, is one in which one of the states is stable and the other is quasi-stable. The circuit is initially in the stable state. It goes to the quasi-stable state when appropriately triggered. It stays in the quasi-stable state for a certain time period, after which it comes back to the stable state.

          Figure 2 shows the basic monostable multivibrator circuit. The circuit functions as follows. Initially, transistor Q₂ is in saturation as it gets its base bias from +V_CC through R. Coupling from Q₂ collector to Q₁ base ensures that Q₁ is in cut off. Now, if an appropriate trigger pulse induces a transition in Q₁ from saturation to cut-off, the output goes to the HIGH state. This HIGH output when coupled to the Q₁ base turns Q₁ ON. Since there is no direct coupling from Q₁ collector to Q₂ base, which is necessary for a regenerative process to set in, Q₁ is not necessarily in saturation. However, it conducts some current. The Q₁ collector voltage falls by I_C1R_C1 and the Q₂ base voltage falls by the same amount, as the voltage across a capacitor (C in this case) cannot change instantaneously. To sum up, the moment we applied the trigger, Q₂ went to cut off and Q₁ started conducting. But now there is a path for capacitor C to charge from V_CC through R and the conducting transistor. The polarity of voltage across C is such that the Q₂ base potential rises. The moment the Q₂ base voltage exceeds the cut-in voltage, it turns Q₂ ON, which, owing to coupling through R₁, turns Q₁ OFF. And we are back to the original state, the stable state. Whenever we trigger the circuit into the other state, it does not stay there permanently and returns back after a time period that depends upon R and C. The greater the time constant RC, the longer is the time for which it stays in the other state, called the quasi stable state.

3. Astable Multivibrator

          In the case of an astable multivibrator, neither of the two states is stable. Both output states are quasistable. The output switches from one state to the other and the circuit functions like a free running square-wave oscillator.

          Figure 3 shows the basic astable multivibrator circuit. It can be proved that, in this type of circuit, neither of the output states is stable. Both states, LOW as well as HIGH, are quasi-stable. The time periods for which the output remains LOW and HIGH depends upon R₂C₂ and R₁C₁ time constants respectively. For R₁C₁= R₂C₂, the output is a symmetrical square waveform. The circuit functions as follows. Let us assume that transistor Q₂ is initially conducting, that is, the output is LOW. Capacitor C₂ in this case charges through R₂ and the conducting transistor from V_CC, and, the moment the Q₁ base potential exceeds its cut in voltage, it is turned ON. A fall in Q₁ collector potential manifests itself at the Q₂ base as voltage across a capacitor cannot change instantaneously. The output goes to the HIGH state as Q₂ is driven to cut-off. However, C₁ has now started charging through R₁ and the conducting transistor Q₁ from VCC. The moment the Q2 base potential exceeds the cut-in voltage, it is again turned ON, with the result that the output goes to the LOW state. This process continues and, owing to both the couplings (Q₁ collector to Q₂ base and Q₂ collector to Q₁ base) being capacitive, neither of the states is stable. The circuit produces a square-wave output.

   

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ISIS Proteus Simulator (Electronics Software)

 
 
  

Proteus is software for microprocessor simulation, schematic capture, and printed circuit board (PCB) design. It is developed by Labcenter Electronics.

Proteus Virtual System Modelling (VSM) combines mixed mode SPICE circuit simulation, animated components and microprocessor models to facilitate co-simulation of complete microcontroller based designs. For the first time ever, it is possible to develop and test such designs before a physical prototype is constructed.

This is possible because you can interact with the design using on screen indicators such as LED and LCD displays and actuators such as switches and buttons. The simulation takes place in real time (or near enough to it): a 1GMHz Pentium III can simulate a basic 8051 system clocking at over 12MHz. Proteus VSM also provides extensive debugging facilities including breakpoints, single stepping and variable display for both assembly code and high level language source.

System Components

ISIS Schematic Capture - a tool for entering designs.

PROSPICE Mixed mode SPICE simulation - industry standard SPICE3F5 simulator combined with a digital simulator.

ARES PCB Layout - PCB design system with automatic component placer, rip-up and retry auto-router and interactive design rule checking.

VSM - Virtual System Modelling lets cosimulate embedded software for popular micro-controllers alongside hardware design.

System Benefits Integrated package with common user interface and fully context sensitive help.

Download ISIS Proteus 7.1

(Due to an error, the link above was removed. Please check the link below for the update)


ISIS Proteus 7.6

      

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Metronome

 
      

A metronome marks time by producing a regular sequence of "clicks" or "pocks". Adjust the click rate by adjusting R2 or changing C1's value. That will varying the RC time constant so it will also varying the "delay time" of the buzzer or speaker. This project is so simple, applicative and low-cost. It is suitable for you who loves to learn about music and build and use this project for your low-cost metronome. :-)



    

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