Is it wrong for me to get really jazzed when something of mine works, even if it's something really simple? 20 years doing this, and I still haven't lost the thrill.

 

It depends.

If it is a simple project and takes little time to complete, then I celebrate.
If it is a very complex project and takes months to complete, then I celebrate.
If it is a simple project and takes months to complete, then I curse.
If it is a very complex projct and take little time to complete, ...just joking, there's no such thing.

 

What do you think the "Happy Dance" was created for

 

 

Yep, it's wrong.

Actually it would be more wrong if you didn't. It would mean you are in the wrong profession.

 

You mean like this?

http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/showthread.php?t=83343

Very complicated circuit and I nailed it in one.
That's the kind of happy dance that keeps me coming back here.

 

Yep, it's wrong.

Actually it would be more wrong if you didn't. It would mean you are in the wrong profession.

Wrong no. Pathetic yes. But I am pathetic too. You should have seen how excited I got when a program I wrote successfully enumerated an USB GPS device attached to my Android tablet PC. Now for the hard part and get it to communicate.

I need to get a life. Oh well I guess it is better than having a hobby of drinking to excess like my neighbor does. Nothing wrong with a drink or two now and then but when it becomes a way of life you have issues. .

 

It's pretty normal for me. I got unexplainably happy when I saw how good this etch was now that I've splashed out on a laser printer. Still using the UV method and if anyone has seen the fairly mediocre boards I was making this is a massive improvement (although I messed up the alignment of the reverse side). The five large pads are on a 2.54mm pitch and the chip has a 0.64mm pitch.

 

I've been building and repairing electronic stuff since Disney World opened in Florida.

A month or so ago I worked on a buzzing Kalamazoo Model Two amp for a harp player and was quite excited when I powered it up after a re-cap, plugged in a Strat, and it sounded great.

Just never gets old for me .

 

Mark77 ,explain...do you print layers ,then etch...I keep hearing about 3-D printers

and all the good stuff you can make. Are you in to that also or just etching copper

curcuits.

 

Is it wrong for me to get really jazzed when something of mine works, even if it's something really simple? 20 years doing this, and I still haven't lost the thrill.

Not at all. I feel the same way every morn I wake up still breathing. Seriously though no, its always good to have something work the way it should, whether it be 4G mesh network, or a cabinet from IKEA.

 

Mark77 ,explain...do you print layers ,then etch...I keep hearing about 3-D printers

and all the good stuff you can make. Are you in to that also or just etching copper

curcuits.

I just print the design on clear plastic, expose the presensitised board to UV light through the print, develop (which dissolves the board coating where it has been exposed), then etch away the unprotected copper.
3D printing is out of my price range at the moment.

 

Design seems to be running in 16 month cycles. 2-3 months to design, then 13-16 months to test, integrate, program, more testing and then planning and researching the next project. Result is it's been well over a year since I last designed. Wonderful to be back!

The project is a simple register file accessble over PCIe. Just the first part of a much larger design project.

Some of you worked with me on a couple issues I was having integrating PCIe. Thanks to those who did!

 

You should have seen how excited I got when a program I wrote successfully enumerated an USB GPS device attached to my Android tablet PC. Now for the hard part and get it to communicate.

I need to get a life.

Engieering is life. It's what makes modern life possible.