Big Monk
Well-known member
This.
I was trained as an electrical engineer and there were times that reading my textbooks felt like reading Lord of the Rings or the Old Testament or something.
At the quantum level, shit kind of IS magic.
SandSpur Fuzz biasing?
- Thread starter MichaelW
- Start date
This.
I was trained as an electrical engineer and there were times that reading my textbooks felt like reading Lord of the Rings or the Old Testament or something.
At the quantum level, shit kind of IS magic.
fig
Village Idiot
That’s why I learned quantum mechanics first, to have an edge in pedal-building.
Robert
Reverse Engineer
This is how I felt when first learning how CRTs worked way back in the day.
So we're firing an electron beam using 30,000V and bending it with electromagnetism to deflect it all over the screen? Which then glows in different colors when it's struck?
Right. It's time to stop watching so much Star Wars, tell me how they really work.
So we're firing an electron beam using 30,000V and bending it with electromagnetism to deflect it all over the screen? Which then glows in different colors when it's struck?
Right. It's time to stop watching so much Star Wars, tell me how they really work.
giovanni
Well-known member
Same here. My professor just started talking about the NP junction and how electrons would do all kinds of crazy shit and I thought it was some weird alchemy nonsense
Robert
Reverse Engineer
Oh man I had the hardest time with PN junctions.... So like, we trickle a few electrons (or holes, depending on who showed up that day) through here and they're all like "Hey guys, let's jump off this bridge together!" and then all their friends follow along and... what? This school sucks, you guys are just making this s**t up as we go along.
benny_profane
Well-known member
Serious question for folks that studied EE: Did you have practical labs that involved working with components (either solderless breadboard or actual soldering), or was the entirety of instruction theoretical?
benny_profane
Well-known member
Is that Protoboard v2?
When I worked as a tech writer, the number of EEs—regardless of generation or level of education—that actually had practical instruction was surprisingly low.
When I worked as a tech writer, the number of EEs—regardless of generation or level of education—that actually had practical instruction was surprisingly low.
Big Monk
Well-known member
The first 2 years of most 4 year degrees is heavy on physics and calculus. Since computer systems engineering and electrical engineering are kissing cousins now academically, you also have basic coding courses and labs associated with that. There are also materials courses, which has a corresponding lab as well.
When I transferred to my second school to finish the last 2 years of my BE, we had circuits, fields and waves and electro mechanics, all of which had labs associated. I also took more involved digital logic courses which had a practical labs as well.
Especially in electric circuits, we did TONS of breadboarding. It was basically like kids playing with Legos, with large bins of all values of resistors, caps, diodes, etc. Fields and waves was a great lab as well, as we got to use more involved equipment.
giovanni
Well-known member
Not really, they didn't do that in Italy at all. I did have an internship right before I graduated which was cool, but also not a lot of hands on experience (I was working on near field measurements for a radar antenna so it was all coding). I learned to solder a few years later when a friend introduced me to pedal building.
Robert
Reverse Engineer
If someone can find me a reliable source for these spring contacts we'll have some real fun.
Adafruit used to have them but have since discontinued them.
giovanni
Well-known member
I can connect to wifi! It's the cable with the roundy plug right?
Coda
Well-known member
I love physics. As a kid, I always loved science. But as the science became more complicated, and math dependent, I wasn’t able to keep up. I have a fundamental mathematical reason malfunction. I never learned the multiplication table passed 6, and was once told in 4th grade than I couldn't return to my seat until I solved the division problem in the board…I stood there for an hour or so…until it was time for lunch…
When I was in college I took a Fundamentals of Physics course. It was 102, which was the good stuff: electrics, lenses, magnets…none of that fulcrum/lever/physical science bullshit. I ran that class. I could tell you the whole history of Faraday and Kelvin, and explain in detail how Einstein’s relativity theories worked, as well as the history of how they were developed. When it came time to prove it all with math, I tanked…
A decade and one MA in History later, now I’M the Professor…but don’t ask me to explain my grading rubric…
Robert
Reverse Engineer
I like math but I'm not very good at it anymore because I never use anything but the basics and ohms law.
A couple years ago I hunted down and bought all of the books that would have been involved in an electronics course so I could refresh myself on my own time, no deadlines, no teachers breathing down my neck, no idiot classmates...
I flipped through a Calculus book, nope, back up some. College Algebra.... nope.. back up some more.
At some point I was finding least common denominators and realized how far I had regressed.... I think it's more frustrating to look at this stuff and know that I used to be able to work it out.
A couple years ago I hunted down and bought all of the books that would have been involved in an electronics course so I could refresh myself on my own time, no deadlines, no teachers breathing down my neck, no idiot classmates...
I flipped through a Calculus book, nope, back up some. College Algebra.... nope.. back up some more.
At some point I was finding least common denominators and realized how far I had regressed.... I think it's more frustrating to look at this stuff and know that I used to be able to work it out.
spi
Well-known member
Yes, in college we did breadboard some circuits, including an 8 bit microprocessor. That was a spaghetti mess but it worked. Makes debugging a pedal trivial in comparison.
I learned soldering in a HS electronic shop class, and in that class we built a working multimeter kit.
