Started as a hobbyist at age 12. Had fun shocking people by connecting the primary of a transformer to a D cell and releasing it. Had no idea how it worked, but it sure was fun. After I turned 16 and got my drivers license, I started learning by telling my parents I was going to mass on Sunday, but going to the library instead where I read every word in Popular Electronics. Spent my lawn mowing and snow shovelling money on parts at Radio shack, and a Heathkit oscilloscope and Stereo receiver. Got a degree in physics, during which I took electronics lab course. Got a masters in Computer Science which included digital logic in the computer architecture course. Hobbyist for 53 years now.

But, in the last decade, I think I have learned more from participating in forums like this, and the research it triggered than I had learned in all the time before that.

Bob

Sounds a little like my story I'm just at the beginning though. When I was Ten or elven I broke a box fan since I broke it I had to pay for it and so it was mine to take apart from that box fan my hobby of making and fixing electronics has taken over my life. I now have a big workbench in my bed room and boxes of parts on my floor I get more excited about getting the guts of a projection tv (if you have the time get one & desolder all to components you will know why I think there the mother load) or the guts of a microwave (i've got two so far witch means 4Kv at my finger tips) then going to a water park. I also make videos on what I do for the fun of it. so in five or six years hobby electronics has taken over my life. I am now taking the time to warn you if you continue on the path you are on the you will likely become a electromaniac just like me and millions around the globe. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
A.H.W.

 

I've actually stepped away from electronics projects recently and moved onto DIY Surgery. I've removed my appendix and now looking for other things I don't need to keep practicing.

You could remove a kidney or lung, part of your liver, an eye, an ear, ...

If you're ambitious, you could start growing parts and attaching them so you'll have spares. I've seen human ear scaffolding being grown on rats. You could grow them on yourself and make a fashion statement

 

I've actually stepped away from electronics projects recently and moved onto DIY Surgery. I've removed my appendix and now looking for other things I don't need to keep practicing.

Surgery is certainly "scary" if you have never done it before but its certainly possible to do without a piece of paper saying you can..

 

I was able to assist in a surgery once. Removing bullet fragments from my hound dog. One of the neatest things I've ever done. Had to cut bone...dis-assemble an elbow......and after fragment collection.....install pins.......re-assemble. While monitoring vital signs and controlling bleeding.

The pins where left coming thru the skin. I un-screwed and pulled them 6 weeks later...and after several weeks.....he almost had full function. A truly superb tracking hound dog.

Vet only charged me half price..........and gave me a stash of sutures, syringes, and antibiotics....for future hunting injuries. Great Vet. They probably can't do that today.

 

now looking for other things I don't need to keep practicing.

Once upon a time, I broke my pinky finger, and the doctor said, "you don't need that, anyway." I thought about it and realized he was right. I wouldn't advise removing any toes, as I am quite short on them in the first place, but a pinky finger isn't something you need to walk.

 

Surgery is certainly "scary" if you have never done it before but its certainly possible to do without a piece of paper saying you can..

I've cut open just over 1000 rats as part of a metabolic study in Undergrad. Im ready for more.

 

My experience in self-surgery does not extend beyond removing splinters, an occupational hazard of my other hobby -- woodworking.

bob

 

My experience in self-surgery does not extend beyond removing splinters, an occupational hazard of my other hobby -- woodworking.

bob

Speaking of splinter, check out what I dug out of my hand. That little bugger was my hand for 6 weeks, stuck deep in the webbing between my fingers. I tried on 3 separate occasions cutting my hand open with a box cutter to get it out. Each time I would relieve the fluid and think I got the splinter, it would heal over, and then start swelling up again. I was actually contemplating going to the doctor over a splinter. Gave it one last go; cut it pretty deep and squeezed it as hard as I could, and the little sucker shot out like a missile.

 

My experience in self-surgery does not extend beyond removing splinters, an occupational hazard of my other hobby -- woodworking. bob

May I advise Peruvian Balsam (Balsam Peru), an Aromatic or, Essential Oil.
I have been using it for 60 years and the only complaint I have had is, "The Band-aid wouldn't stay on during the second day because the splinter kept backing out and pushing it off."

The proper use is for damage that does not completely penetrate the dermis, especially indicated if some hint of infection appears. A single drop on the wound and another drop on the Band-aid is the usual amount to use. The 1 ounce jar I have now is 30 years old and about 25% of the contents are still in it.

Pretty magical stuff, and dirt cheap if measured in $/year.

 

Are most of you Electronics Engineers?

Im _lay EE_ just unofficially by necessity and hobby So my professional title is PI But ppl stop being intrigued when I explain it just means Principal Investigator But I say science is totally more interesting than tracking down deadbeats and spying on cheating spouses

 

science is totally more interesting

People find science interesting but if you talk electronics to people that aren't into it, they glaze over like deer in the headlights.

 

People find science interesting but if you talk electronics to people that aren't into it, they glaze over like deer in the headlights.

Yep. You can actually see them thinking about something else...

 

But often the cause is their own question.
'So what do you do for a living?'

I retro-fit CNC machinery.

A facial (Huh)??
Max.

 

I retro-fit CNC machinery.

At a Wiccan Full Moon Ceremony: I work with invisible forces...
Facial: Witchcraft invisible forces? How crazy are you? Dangerous crazy?
...electricity, magnetism, and heat.

 

As Fish would say 'Get away from me'.
Max.

 

But often the cause is their own question.
'So what do you do for a living?'

I retro-fit CNC machinery.

A facial (Huh)??
Max.

Normally, people's eyes widen a bit, they raise their eyebrows, and break into a half-smile when I tell them I'm into robotics and mechatronics...

Funny part is sometimes when I meet some old female acquaintance from school and tell her... and suddenly she shows genuine interest... when back in the day she'd snub me for being too geeky for her taste...

 

t... when back in the day she'd snub me for being too geeky for her taste...

....In the interim she has found out that the popular 'Bad Boys' are actually that!
Max.

 

Mine is easy. I say I'm in nuclear physics. That shuts them up pretty quickly.

 

when back in the day she'd snub me for being too geeky for her taste...

Not hard to understand, but not a nice feeling, either.
"Hi. All the jocks I chased are sitting around with ruined knees and mental defects from too many contact sports. They were among the 99% that let women distract them from their training so they never made it to the Big Time. You, on the other hand, your brain is intact and so is your cash flow. Would you like to buy an expired Lottery ticket in the form of ME?"

MGTOW

 

Not sure if I told this before, but when my new neighbors moved in I assisted the husband and his father-in-law in their construction of a deck.
And the F-i-L said it should not be that difficult, and I confirmed jokingly 'you don't have to be a rocket scientist'.
Found out later he was a Nuclear physicist.
Max.