On Sun, 20 Mar 2011 11:03:15 -0700, D Yuniskis
wrote:
On 3/20/2011 10:18 AM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Sun, 20 Mar 2011 05:09:04 +0000 (UTC), "Geoffrey S. Mendelson"
wrote:
David Nebenzahl wrote:
I'm looking for an online electronics forum (web-based) where I can post
some questions.
Get a ham license. Then you can find people who actively design and build
things, like to talk about them and would gladly help you.
Locally, we have about 2800 licensed hams in the county, of which I
would guess about 500 are at least semi-active, 100 regularly attend
various club meetings, 50 bother to build things, and perhaps 4 are
qualified to design anything useful.
Expressed in your characteristic "dry" manner... :
I try not to get excited about such things.
But, illustrates the point, well. Yet, doesn't say how accessible
those "4" are nor where their interests lie.
Actually, very accessible, if they're interested. We have a local
startup, Elecraft, that makes ham radio kits and accessories. Most of
the qualified hams in the area are now working for them.
http://www.elecraft.com
There's not much design work being done locally, but the engineers and
techs certainly know how the radios operate.
E.g., you would be
hard-pressed to get me to help you design an audio amp out of
discretes -- but, could probably keep me obsessed with trying to
cut power consumption by half a milliwatt on a battery powered
device! (and I'm a *helpful* soul ;-)
I have a similar problem. When I was still designing electronics, the
major obsession was reducing the cost. At that time, it meant
reducing the component count. If you get my attention, I can waste
enormous amounts of time, on futile exercises in component count
reduction. Same with unusual ways to implement simple things.
A lot also depends on how dense that population of "experts" is,
as well. E.g., our county is 9,200 sq mi with a population of just
over 1,000,000. So, 90 people / sq mile. *If* we have those 2800
hams, here (no idea), that would be one ham for every 4 sq mi. That
can make accessing that "expert" a bit problematic (I find learning
is usually faster "in person").
You can get a fair idea of the number of hams by diving into the FCC
ULS database and searching for counts by your local zip codes.
http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchAmateur.jsp
For 95005 (Ben Lomond, CA), it shows 61 licenses. Unfortunately, the
FCC updates the data perhaps every 10 years, so some hams that have
moved out or died are still listed.
And, if the hams (and population, in general) are not evenly
distributed throughout the county, it only gets worse (potentially).
Worse, most hams seem to live in post office boxes.
E.g., there are *no* electronic suppliers, here, within driving
distance. The closest possible (overpriced) retailer is clear across
town (and would never have the types of components that I am
interested in).
We have one local supplier (other than Radio Shock). They're
expensive, but not outrageous.
http://www.santacruzelectronics.com
This is the age of specialization.
Exactly! The days of being able to keep a drawer full of transistors,
diodes, resistors, etc. and hack together an amplifier -- or a logic
gate (!) -- are long behind us.
Yep. Just finding the part in my mess is difficult. However, I do
have a fairly good collection of 1980's vintage discrete parts, which
are useful for raising the dead and repairing the antiques.
One problem with specialization is that it tends to create some rather
bizarre implementations. I once reverse engineered a microprocessor
design that could have been replaced by a quad op amp.
Sure, you can still do it, but there
is no point. I can recall building 8 digit counters out of discretes
with nixie displays... would I bother wasting my time on that *now*??
(though I *have* been sorely tempted to build a Difference Engine).
Hint: I never build or design anything that I can't sell or turn into
a sellable product. When I do build something for myself, I usually
build 3 to 5 extras, to sell to friends and recover my expenses.
Expertise in PCB layout is a must.
Note that it's still possible to have fun with electronics:
"How to blow up a microwave"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9Gn0auLFUA
--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060
http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558