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> Get a ham radio technician license, and you may develop an intuitive perspective on most electrical engineering concepts. May. I managed to get one without d

> Get a ham radio technician license, and you may develop an intuitive perspective on most electrical engineering concepts. May. I managed to get one without developing much intuition for most EE concepts, unfortunately.

Joel_Mckay 2y ago
Did you mean you don't understand the equations/theory, or are having difficulty applying the concepts to design circuits? In the first case, install LTSpice (free from Analog Devices), and head here to run down the basics: https://www.youtube.com/@FesZElectronics/videos https://www.youtube.com/@FesZElectronics/videos And in the latter, go though common basic designs analyzing how they work: https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofelectroniccircuitsvol1/Encyclopedia%20of%20Electronic%20Circuits%20-%20Vol%201/ https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofelectroniccircuits... https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofel02graf https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofel02graf https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780070110779 https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780070110779 https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofel0006graf https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofel0006graf Then try your own designs combining properties of several designs. Start with simple blinkers and buzzers at first... Try to avoid Arduino designs until you've done a few 555, transistor, and opamp circuits first. =3
- TeMPOraL 2y ago
  Most of my issues seem to be about power - I have no feel for the relevant math, so even as I remember the basic equations and methods, I never feel certain I'm calculating it right. So in terms of hands-on experience, I pretty much jumped straight from burning through-hole resistors with 12V battery to ignite rocket motors made of PVC and caramel fuel, to Arduinos and RPIs and NodeMCUs -- basically, stuff that comes with an USB port it can draw power from... Thanks for the links, I'll work through them and hopefully come out with some understanding at the end of this process :).
  - Joel_Mckay 2y ago
    Note, part of the fun is the forensic analysis to figure out why stuff didn't work the first time... Maybe a LDO Voron 3d printer kit would be a fun project too =3
- otteromkram 2y ago
  I mean I'm a dummy who just wanted to listen to ISS static and trucker jargon.
  - Joel_Mckay 2y ago
    Indeed, we also end up learning about our sun in levels of detail no person should find enthralling... lol =3
0xEF 2y ago
Were you also completely turned off by the community? I ask because I got into it about 15+ years ago for the purposes of helping with emergency comms and learning more about electronics, but found the community extremely hostile toward new comers that did not have money to burn on expensive gear. I ended up just giving up on it after a few years after investing in a bunch of Arduino stuff and learned far more about EE than I ever did playing at radio. The concept of the Elmer seemed dead, leaving nobody who wanted to show the new guys the ropes. From what I understand, maybe that has changed in recent years? Weirdly, I did take something away from my experience with ham radio; I know an awful lot about the weather and atmosphere now, which has turned into a lasting interest.
- cushychicken 2y ago
  Ham radio's decline is more than explainable as a cultural issue. The culture of every internet forum I've ever visited for it is absolutely deplorable. It seems like each one has a handful of really grouchy old gatekeepers who lie in wait to absolutely dunk on newcomers.
  - 0xEF 2y ago
    We agree, but I suppose my next question would be why? What happened to turn these guys (or ham radio culture at large) into grouchy old gatekeepers? I'm generalizing, of course, but they were like that when I arrived. I can't imagine the hobby was always like that, especially seeing some of the old literature from the 50's and 60's in the US, which was very encouraging of mentoring and sharing info. If it's still the same today as it was back when I tried it out, that's a shame, because ham radio is absolutely full of hardware hacking opportunities. Heck, you can make an antenna out of a retractable tape measure.
    - btreecat 2y ago
      Lead paint probably
      - cushychicken 2y ago

Joel_Mckay 2y ago

Did you mean you don't understand the equations/theory, or are having difficulty applying the concepts to design circuits? In the first case, install LTSpice (free from Analog Devices), and head here to run down the basics: https://www.youtube.com/@FesZElectronics/videos https://www.youtube.com/@FesZElectronics/videos And in the latter, go though common basic designs analyzing how they work: https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofelectroniccircuitsvol1/Encyclopedia%20of%20Electronic%20Circuits%20-%20Vol%201/ https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofelectroniccircuits... https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofel02graf https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofel02graf https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780070110779 https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780070110779 https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofel0006graf https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofel0006graf Then try your own designs combining properties of several designs. Start with simple blinkers and buzzers at first... Try to avoid Arduino designs until you've done a few 555, transistor, and opamp circuits first. =3

TeMPOraL 2y ago
Most of my issues seem to be about power - I have no feel for the relevant math, so even as I remember the basic equations and methods, I never feel certain I'm calculating it right. So in terms of hands-on experience, I pretty much jumped straight from burning through-hole resistors with 12V battery to ignite rocket motors made of PVC and caramel fuel, to Arduinos and RPIs and NodeMCUs -- basically, stuff that comes with an USB port it can draw power from... Thanks for the links, I'll work through them and hopefully come out with some understanding at the end of this process :).
- Joel_Mckay 2y ago
  Note, part of the fun is the forensic analysis to figure out why stuff didn't work the first time... Maybe a LDO Voron 3d printer kit would be a fun project too =3
otteromkram 2y ago
I mean I'm a dummy who just wanted to listen to ISS static and trucker jargon.
- Joel_Mckay 2y ago
  Indeed, we also end up learning about our sun in levels of detail no person should find enthralling... lol =3

0xEF 2y ago

Were you also completely turned off by the community? I ask because I got into it about 15+ years ago for the purposes of helping with emergency comms and learning more about electronics, but found the community extremely hostile toward new comers that did not have money to burn on expensive gear. I ended up just giving up on it after a few years after investing in a bunch of Arduino stuff and learned far more about EE than I ever did playing at radio. The concept of the Elmer seemed dead, leaving nobody who wanted to show the new guys the ropes. From what I understand, maybe that has changed in recent years? Weirdly, I did take something away from my experience with ham radio; I know an awful lot about the weather and atmosphere now, which has turned into a lasting interest.

cushychicken 2y ago
Ham radio's decline is more than explainable as a cultural issue. The culture of every internet forum I've ever visited for it is absolutely deplorable. It seems like each one has a handful of really grouchy old gatekeepers who lie in wait to absolutely dunk on newcomers.
- 0xEF 2y ago
  We agree, but I suppose my next question would be why? What happened to turn these guys (or ham radio culture at large) into grouchy old gatekeepers? I'm generalizing, of course, but they were like that when I arrived. I can't imagine the hobby was always like that, especially seeing some of the old literature from the 50's and 60's in the US, which was very encouraging of mentoring and sharing info. If it's still the same today as it was back when I tried it out, that's a shame, because ham radio is absolutely full of hardware hacking opportunities. Heck, you can make an antenna out of a retractable tape measure.
  - btreecat 2y ago
    Lead paint probably
    - cushychicken 2y ago