25 Jun
2012
25 Jun
'12
1:04 p.m.
On 6/24/2012 9:28 PM, Fred Cisin wrote:
As I've mentioned before, I found the Philips EE xseries kits ot be the
most educational, if only becausse you got to handle 'real' components,
For (a trivial) example, you had to pick out the right resutor to used,
identifying it by the coloured bands.
Back when you and I started (I guesS), jumble sale/flea market
electronics was old radios, mostly. They might be valved or
transistorised, but yo uhd a good chance of being able to identify the
components, get replaements, or strip the thing and use the bits
elsewhere. Now a lot of consumer devices consist of one IC, maybe even an
direct-on-board oone with a blob of epoxy on top. There's little you can
do to fix or reuse bis for such things :-(
[...]
On Sun, 24 Jun 2012, Jim Brain wrote:
And the classes on electronics were tube based with a casual intro to
transistors after several semesters. I was way too impatient to go
that route
The old Radio Shack "150 in 1" kit, some flea market broken
electronics
gadgets, and the Forrest Mims little handbooks from RS were my start. * Sometimes the cheaper tool really is better.
I've used a whole host
of desoldering "vacuum" solutions, and some of the very expensive
professional options do indeed work well. But, for utility,
portability, and ease of use, the $3.99 solder sucker bulb I bought
back in 1981 or so from Radio Shack works perfectly. I can throw it
in the box when I go the shows, I've learned how to use it well, and
it and solder braid make a cool tag team of desoldering tools. I
know others will curse the little red bulb, but it works well for
me, short of hauling my pro station to a show.
I think it's worth remenmebrign that it's not always necessary to use the
most complex/expnsive tool.
I do an awful lot of fault trasing with a logic probe. Sure a 'socpe or
LA will tell me more,. but the probe will pick up 'silly faults' -- a
data bus line shorted to ground, a clock that isn't running, etc. And it
needs no settign up, you just put it on the pin and see what is going on.
Of course sometimes I need more complex instruments, but only after I've
checkd for simple faults.
Another example. My father and I were doing a bit of DIY and we needed to
dril la couple of holes in a metal bracket. My father went off to get the
electric drill and an extension lead. While he was gone. I grabbed the
hand drill and made the hoes. Sure a power drill is wuicker than a hand
drill, but if you include the time in fetching it, settign it up, etc,
then the hand drill can be faster fo jsut a couple of holes.
Use the reight tools!
-tony