I found the site by accident I guess, I studied electronics and telecommunications for two years in college in the UK, probably took me to about the same level as the first year of a BSc give or take, this was in the very early 80s, then I moved into software and never got to work professionally in electronics much to my regret at the time.

I wanted to work for Intel or Motorola or Zilog back in those days but not having a degree hampered that goal.

I like this site because there are a fair number of clearly experienced competent people from whom I can learn.

I'm in the process of resurrecting my hobby, because that's how I got into all this, as a hobby in the mid 70s.

I wrote articles back then for Wireless World, Electronics Today International and Everyday Electronics.

I think there's a good diversity of expertise here too, I like to help if I can with software questions and GitHub but there's a number of people here that I find helpful, stuff that only experience can teach etc.

 

My original reason for joining here, was to take a break from politics. Obviously that subject has gotten incredibly ugly, and is not a good thing to spend your day on. I have been fascinated by electronics since I was a kid, and this is a place where I can contribute something positive.

 

My reason for joining was to restart a hobby from years ago now that I am semi retired
and have a bit of time on my hands. In elementary school I discovered electronics in the
school library and found it very interesting. It was 1969 if I remember correctly.
I have enjoyed troubleshooting and repairing all kinds of electronics over the years.

Although I planned on pursuing a career in electronics life got in the way and it never happened.
I ended up becoming a mechanic and spent the next 40 years repairing
and maintaining trucks and equipment. I still work a couple days a week in a truck and
equipment repair shop. I mostly do electrical and electronic troubleshooting and repair.

In the late 1980s I took some electronics courses at the local college in the evenings.
Sadly the college stopped offering the electronics course or I would have completed it.
Taking the courses I did was a good thing as electronic fuel injection was coming out on
diesel and gasoline engines. My employer invested in a lot more specialized training
for me as a result. I always enjoyed the challenge an electrical/electronic problem
can pose.

I will probably be here with more questions than answers so thanks for having me.

 

I enjoy solving problems. I take gratitude in empowering others to solve their problems. I can only offer what have been my experiences.
When I started my technical path as a young man, II was very fortunate to have been taken in by a group of elder European craftsmen. Out of respect for what they shared with me, I promise myself daily to be compassionate, and share my knowledge with others.

 

I will probably be here with more questions than answers so thanks for having me.

Hey every question you get answered will be an answer you'll be able to pass on, with experience. For my part, thanks for being here.

 

I consider myself fortunate in a way, My electrical/electronic experiences started out with the very basics and growing through several electronic era's.
Making a transition from the basic cats whisker radio using the (solid State!!) Galena crystal , through the valve era which not only included the typical radio valves etc, but practical experience with Decatrons, Thyratrons, Ignitrons, as well as the humble Nixie etc.
.Then of course came the revolutionary Transistor, followed by the very expensive IC, (if you could afford them.) at 10 shillings a crack!
This then followed by the digital computer processor !

Quite the journey!
.
,

 

I consider myself fortunate in a way, My electrical/electronic experiences started out with the very basics and growing through several electronic era's, making a transition from the basic cats whisker radio using the (solid State!!) Galena crystal , through the valve era which not only included the typical radio valves etc, but practical experience with Decatrons, Thyratrons, Ignitrons, as well as the humble Nixie etc.
.Then of course came the revolutionary Transistor, followed by the very expensive IC, (if you could afford them.) at 10 shillings a crack!
This then followed by the digital computer processor !

Quite the journey!
.
,

Max, you are a living museum of electronics!

 

Is that a polite way of saying I'm OLD?

 

Is that a polite way of saying I'm OLD?

Actually, if not for your age you wouldn't have been able to span all that amazing technological advance.

You know, in the early 70's when I was getting into radio and electronics there was plenty of transistorization, but a lot of what I could get my hands on was 30 or 40 year old tube "hollow state" kit. I also coincided with the rise of the microcomputer, so I got to see all of the earliest 8008, 8080, Z80, 6800, 6809, 6502, &c stuff.

Being old just means you've had a lot of time to see and learn stuff. If I could be young, physically, I'd take it but if I had to start over and be young mentally... I'll stick with old.

 

I think you're being very presumptuous in starting this thread I have the utmost respect for the heavy hitters on his site. It transcends whatever feedback you wish to gain but I can assure you following your lead my generation the information of our elders with reverence quite frankly it is written in stone but they have accomplished and conveyed and of course I am playing The devil's advocate I agree with you 100% is starting this thread and I also disagree with you for starting this thread for shame you should know better you are my intellectual superior but you are arrogant this May I will be turning 20 years old

I'm sorry, I honestly don't understand what you are trying to convey.

 

of course I am playing The devil's advocate I agree with you 100% is starting this thread and I also disagree with you for starting this thread for shame you should know better you are my intellectual superior but you are arrogant this May I will be turning 20 years old

I think this thread is no place for conflict or chastisement. I find it very enlightening to learn about my fellow members experiences and motivation. Younger generations coming into the field of electronics are faced with a vast array of very complex subjects that have developed over the last 80 years. They must be overawed by its diversity. I consider myself very lucky have become interested in its prime. I was able to start with some very basic principles and then to continually build upon them to achieve a vast array of knowledge and understanding. This is a perfect place for me to help others with that knowledge.
Thank you, Yaakov, for conceiving this thread.

 

I think this thread is no place for conflict or chastisement. I find it very enlightening to learn about my fellow members experiences and motivation. Younger generations coming into the field of electronics are faced with a vast array of very complex subjects that have developed over the last 80 years. They must be overawed by its diversity. I consider myself very lucky have become interested in its prime. I was able to start with some very basic principles and then to continually build upon them to achieve a vast array of knowledge and understanding. This is a perfect place for me to help others with that knowledge.
Thank you, Yaakov, for conceiving this thread.

Thank you, Keith I appreciate the kind words but I while I don’t really understand the content of that post I do believe there was no ill will in it. He may have misunderstood my comment about being young again in which I intended only to compare my current self to my young self and not any other young person. I know that the things I’ve had to learn are precious to me and wouldn’t give them up not because being young is bad but because being the current me is something I value.

But thank you so much for the defense and sentiment. I agree, obviously.

 

I had been looking for a forum like this for years, until a gentleman on what was then my favorite forum Major Geeks. When I wandered in here Ive never left, As illustrated by my second post . The rest as they say is history. There is an old saying, if you want to learn, teach. I've been learning ever since It helps being willing to ask stupid questions. No one is born knowing this stuff.

Wendy's Index

 

I found this site while looking for an answer to an unrelated problem simply due to a part number overlap with something else. It intrigued me enough to book mark it and over time I found myself looking through the forums for ideas, reading the help pages, and just aimlessly wandering around the site. Finally one day a question was asked I thought I could help with and joined.

Over time I've asked some questions and tried to help when I could. A few times I was wrong, someone let me know and I took my lumps and learned what I could. My background is more in programming than electronics both of which have always just been hobbies. Ordering my first PIC microcontroller was the beginnings of a new challenge and since then a few worthwhile projects have been built, but mostly just tinkering.

Everyone always seems patient, polite, and willing to help without too much negativity. It's a good place.

 

I first got started with electricity with a battery, light bulb, a short piece of wire and a roll of electrical tape (the old asphalt infused canvas type!) Like others, I made a crude flashlight.

My next project was a light bulb. A 6V lantern battery, a jelly jar, some wire and a thread from the electrical tape.

In the sixth grade, I made a demo board showing parallel and series circuits. I handmade the sockets and crude switches from scrap metal I found near a sub-station.

One Christmas, I got a Lionel set. It had tons of accessories, none of which were wired up. But it came with their instruction sheets and I wired everything up. Including an automatic train station which detected the trains and stopped them. It played station sounds (from a tiny vinyl record inside) and then started the train up again. The wiring was the most complex I had attempted to that point.

I went to Georgia Tech to study mathematics. And many of my friends were EEs. One loaned me his TI TTL Handbook and helped me design a clock and dice application for my father’s classroom (mainly, he showed me how to use a zener diode to create a power supply and how to tap into a 6VAC transformer for the clock)

I continued on and designed many circuits for my hobbies, garden, theater and special effects.

I joined here for some help in a specific project for my animatronics. My biggest frustration and education came from helpers who were all into hi fidelity, exacting specifications and theoretical operation. All of which were overkill for my application. I just wanted to know why my circuit worked when I was reading (and being told) that it couldn’t. I eventually found my answer. But all of the dialogues taught me much.

I could have been frustrated, but then I found questions at about my pay grade and enjoyed helping as I had been helped. And programming questions. As a software development programming, design and management professional for 50-ish years, I loved those questions.

I was fulfilled by helping others. And I had a bit of teaching background as well. It’s in my family’s blood!

So, that’s why I’m here.

 

This thread got me thinking - where did my interest in electronics really first begin? And I think I've nailed it down. I was born in '71, and my first favorite thing (from age zero) was model trains. When I was about 8, my dad started building an HO layout, and he bought this book from the hobby shop. I distinctly remember following the wires around the schematics to see which button connected to which track switch. And who could resist that cover art? I just ordered myself a copy from ebay for $5, to try to relive that memory.

 

This got me thinking.... my workhorse book in the very early days was Foundations of Wireless by M.G.Scroggie, from the 1940's. My dad picked it up in a charity shop for my birthday in 1966 or 1967. I still have it, albeit well-thumbed now. Its made it into the archives here, albeit the US version.

 

I’ve been thinking about the regulars I‘ve gotten to know here in AAC and how much time they spend helping others. Why do you do it?

While I can only speak for myself I enjoy my time here and enjoy helping others. I was here in 2013 when I retired and I find being here helps to keep my mind active. During my summers I enjoy time on the rifle range and getting out for rides on my bike. Winters where I am in NE Ohio are cold and drab leaving me plenty of time to reload, enjoy this forum and play around with a few uC circuits and some code. I not only enjoy helping but enjoy still learning a little at 71 years old. The kids are long gone with kids of their own which leaves me, my wife and two dogs. Anyway, I spend time here because I enjoy being here. I am also active in a few other forums non technology related.

COVID has certainly impacted our travels leaving even more time to find ways to keep busy. I already have a summer escape planned and next winter as well.

Why do I do it? I guess because I enjoy it and that is as simple as I can get.

Uh Oh, my bad I guess I got here in 2015 a fer years after I retired. I was in another forum before I came here.

Ron

 

where did my interest in electronics really first begin?

I had a Meccano set and I got Meccano magazine. They published a design for a one transistor radio (basically a crystal set with an amplifier). I didn't understand the schematic but I could certainly follow the wiring and could solder (sort of - Dad's iron with a 1 inch tip") but my pocket money wouldn't stretch to the parts. But that was what got me past battery, bulb, and motor then Darlington library did the rest.

I think it was this one: https://dockerills.myshopify.com/pr...vember-1964-cover-building-a-transister-radio

 

I had a Meccano set and I got Meccano magazine. They published a design for a one transistor radio (basically a crystal set with an amplifier). I didn't understand the schematic but I could certainly follow the wiring and could solder (sort of - Dad's iron with a 1 inch tip") but my pocket money wouldn't stretch to the parts. But that was what got me past battery, bulb, and motor then Darlington library did the rest.

When I was seven years old my uncle gave me a nice wooden box with a big Everready No 6 1.5V "Igniter" dry cell, some ceramic knife switches, lamp sockets, and bulbs, and of course wire; along with the NAVPERS Basic Electricity book, a nice Dover edition.

I read that book over and over and I built all kinds of circuits. Some of the bulbs were flashers (with the bimetal contact) and I discovered they worked as interrupters so I tried all sorts of "active" circuits. I had a lot of fun, and I started doing other things.

My father built a couple of Dynaco hifi kits—an amp and a tuner, and I learned to solder on some scraps and spares. I also learned the first rule of soldering at that time... don't touch the hot end. It took twice being so engrossed in holding the components in place that I grabbed the working end of the iron and heard and smelled it before I felt it.

Twice was enough... but... seems to be a pattern for me.