Why you do that voodoo that you do?

Ugha · 2009-02-12 02:22

Electronics are expensive.
They are hard to use.
There is a HUGE learning curve.
The market is against us.
It's extremely frustrating.
People look at you strange when you tell them your hobby.

So why the heck are we all so darned obsessed with it?

I'm curious why other people are into hobby electronics so I thought I'd fire out a thread asking.

The reason I'm into it?

I've always had a strong creative urge that I've never been able to sate.
I've tried various forms of art, game design, teaching, internet game programming... nothing really made me feel like I was
really CREATING something.

I've also had an intrest in all things high tech.

Electronics (especially robotics) is a perfect fusion of the two and a creative outlet where I can finally actually SEE something
I program/design take shape and do what I want it to.

What's your story?

Nick McClick · 2009-02-12 02:49

Part of the problem is self created. I think we could do a lot to make it easier to get involved. Instead, we make it harder. It reminds me of video games - the barrier to entry gets worse every year. I see this as a very negative trend - every year, more of peoples' 'world' is a mystery. The yeoman farmer had a firm understanding of the world around him, his tools, how to fix things, etc. The average office worker is much worse off (and will keep getting worse). This trend of an increasingly mystical existence will not bring about anything positive.

But as far as playing around with circuits and programming - it's an endless puzzle. It's like a crossword that's always just a little bit better than you. It's always slightly rewarding, but never satiating.

My 2 cents...

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Oldbitcollector (Jeff) · 2009-02-12 03:04

Specifically hook on working with micros and related electronics because:

Unlike modern computer cards/chips, etc these parts are always tantalizingly just outside of reach.
They are designed to be understood and just when I think I've finally reached the top of the hill,
I look and see higher heights just a little higher daring me to reach the top.

I too enjoy the constant puzzle and challenge presented by a hobby that provides instant
feedback to what I'm doing. If something works perfectly, (rare) it's fantastic. If it does
something unexpected, (most of the time) it's an interesting learning experience, and if
it simply doesn't work the challenge is still dangled like a carrot in front of me. [noparse]:)[/noparse]

OBC

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SRLM · 2009-02-12 03:22

I like electronics and robotics because it interacts with the world around me. I do quite a bit of computer programming for schoolwork (CS major), and the thing about computer programming: there is always somebody with a better program whose done it before. In addition, the computer programs are very flimsy: they only last as long as you remember how to run them and what the bugs are. With electronics hardware, it's easier to keep stuff around for longer. Plus, it has the advantage of when you tell somebody that you're working on a project, they respond much better when it has hardware, rather than a pure software. Finally, electronics are much more concise than full blown computers (or some other hobbies). You have a microcontroller like the BS2 or Propeller, and everything you need to know is in one book 500 pages long. Try doing that with C++!

In summary, I like electronics for the permanence, usefulness, and the concise nature of the platform.

Philldapill · 2009-02-12 05:03

I like electronics because it's magic. I mean come on... semiconductors? That's just a joke. A conspiracy to cover up true magic. Without magic we wouldn't be able to cram "intelligence" into a little piece of metal and plastic. My reason is I've always wanted to be a magician. I ordered one of those hats and robes to go along with it. I'm still waiting on my cauldron to arrive any day now.

But seriously, I love electronics because it really is a type of magic. You really can create some absolutely amazing things - all inside a little magic box that we call electronic devices. Electronic and electrical engineers are modern day magicians. It's always fascinated me and the more I learn, the more curious I become about how other things work.

I think the problem with it being so hard to get into, as are many things now days, is that we fail to inspire imagination and interest in things that matter. It seems too many people lack any real interests or hobbies, outside of video games. Where did all the dreamers go? I'm a 24 year old college student and sometimes I'm just ashamed at my generation. So many people that I go to school with, in my own major, have never soldered anything or taken apart something to just see how it works. I feel like the outcast for being curious and inspired... What a time we live in.

Let's change all that! I like Nick's gig he's got going. Make it easier to connect with people and lead them into the light. [noparse]:)[/noparse]

EDIT: By the way, all of you guys, thank you for your contribution in each of your own ways. I, along with so many others really do appreciate it!

sylvie369 · 2009-02-12 13:31

My father was an electrical engineer who worked for Johnson Service Company (now Johnson Controls). When I was young back in the 1960s, I used to go to the office with him, where I saw the development of their first minicomputer-based automated building control system, the JC80, released in 1972 (IIRC). The entire purpose was to improve energy efficiency: the modern "Green movement" was a day-to-day reality in my household four decades ago, and I developed a solid conviction that technology solves real problems, and can do so at a significant profit. Much of my college education was paid for by Green engineering technology. In graduate school I learned a lot about measurement, and I became interested in sensors and control systems.

I played around a bit with electronics when I was younger. I didn't do nearly what most of you guys did, but I did build my own 5V regulated power supply and a logic probe so that I could work with 74XX series ICs. I didn't do much with it while I was learning to make my living elsewhere, but now I've been teaching at the same college for long enough that I have some latitude to play around with these things and incorporate some of it into student work. I've had a couple of grants from NASA's education funding arm (the state Space Grant Consortia) to work with students to build and fly high power rockets carrying instruments and radio transmitters, and my boss would like us to develop some robotics coursework, so there's some payoff for me to learn this stuff.

I specifically came to Parallax because the kids in another rocketry group (from the University School of Milwaukee) were using Stamp modules to collect data on their flights as they worked on the Student Launch Initiative. I was so impressed by what these brilliant high school kids were doing - and what a great education they'd gotten - that I decided I had to learn to do it myself.

I like to try to do things that I didn't think I could do, and in the past 1-1/2 years I've done dozens of such things using these little electronic devices.

Post Edited (sylvie369) : 2/12/2009 1:36:58 PM GMT

Beau Schwabe · 2009-02-12 16:29

I like the smell of the "magic" smoke (Philldapill).
·
I think that there is a great deal of satisfaction you get from manipulating the flow of electrons to do useful work.· I mean really if you think about it that's·all we are doing.
·
Part of the problem today "I think" is that our imagination is dying as a result of·living·in a disposable society.··When you do take something apart,· most of the "magic" is obscured under the hood of an IC.· Yes, I know this is in a way an oxymoron to what I do, so people like me are partially at fault, but what is in an IC is really no different than what is on the circuit board connecting to the IC, it's just a whole heck of a lot smaller.· The fact that you can't see what's in the IC·gives way to·the·"magic" label it has been given.
·
When I was a kid, if something·wore out or was damaged somehow you took it to a repair shop of some kind to get it fixed or you·ordered the parts to fix it yourself.· Even sending it off in some cases·not to be seen for weeks at a time sometimes.· TV repair shops used to be a dime a dozen.· Now days, if something breaks, you get a new one or the latest and greatest replacement, while the broken item takes up space in some unnamed landfill.
·
Perhaps my statement that our imagination is dying is not completely true, but more correct, the focus of our·imagination·has shifted and we give up too easily on the challenge.· Instead of "lifting the hood" to see what's inside and·what makes it tick, you have to dig deeper and know how to program·in order to see what makes it tick.· This "I believe" is where the stopping point is for most, but it should be where we get our second wind in the race.· Here is where the challenge is, and it is the challenge of·figuring·it out that has kept me going.
·
·

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Beau Schwabe

IC Layout Engineer
Parallax, Inc.

ElectricAye · 2009-02-13 00:45

I'm a Mech E and I like mechanical stuff. But when I couldn't figure out an economical way of counting photons using levers and springs, I had to make the descent.

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CJ · 2009-02-13 01:56

I simply feel an intrinsic link to the silicon servants of the world, nuf said.

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JasonDorie · 2009-02-13 02:19

My profession is video game programming - I write tools for artists, data pipeline stuff, and a data-graph compiler that produces token/source code for skin/musculature simulation on consoles. I've always been a software guy, but I've always been fascinated by the hardware side of things, mostly because it allows you to interact with the physical world. I used to take stuff apart when I was a kid to see how it worked, but nowadays all the innards are microcontrollers, so now I get to see how THOSE work. [noparse]:)[/noparse]

There's something very satisfying in showing someone a physical thing that moves versus showing them a piece of software you wrote that converts data from one format to another.

I also really like a challenge, I like to keep myself learning, and I like knowing how stuff works. It was a memorable day when I went into a restroom, stuck my hand under the automated paper towel dispenser, and realized I not only understood how it worked, but could probably build one. How many people in the world can say that?

I think the disposable scociety comment is accurate, but there's also a societal trend towards ignorance that bothers me. I love ElectricAye's signature. People are increasingly relying on spell checkers (don't need to know how to spell), calculators (don't need math), Google (why remember anything?), cars that park themselves, and so on. The world is being dumbed down, but the process feeds itself. I feel like we're headed toward a society of Pakleds, so I want to stay sharp so I can take over when we get there. [noparse]:)[/noparse]

Jason

SRLM · 2009-02-13 02:33

Jason said...
There's something very satisfying in showing someone a physical thing that moves versus showing them a piece of software you wrote that converts data from one format to another.

Amen, brotha!

Carl Hayes · 2009-02-13 02:49

For me it's just a way of doing certain things. Having had a career (one of several -- I'm old) as an electronics engineer designing electronic equipment, I'm not a gee-whiz electronics junkie. When electronics is [noparse][[/noparse]not are] the best approach, I use electronics. When welded steel is better, I break out the arc welder or torch. If a hydraulic system is best -- and so forth.

Similarly, within the electronics, if a microcomputer seems best, I exercise what programming skills I have. If standard logic will do better, I use that (my current project has both, because TTL logic can do things a Prop or a Stamp is too slow for).

Hobbyists decide on the hardware first, and look for things to do with it. Engineers decide what the task is, and choose the hardware accordingly. These two approaches are vastly different.

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Ugha · 2009-02-13 12:15

JasonDorie: I wonder if anyone else got the star trek reference? [noparse];)[/noparse]

Shawn Lowe · 2009-02-13 14:54

I did....."your smart, make us smart..."

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Shawn Lowe

When all else fails.....procrastinate!

Post Edited (Shawn Lowe) : 2/13/2009 5:05:50 PM GMT

JasonDorie · 2009-02-13 23:56

Ugha,

The first game company I worked for had an EE who built dev kits for them out of off-the-shelf game consoles, like the PS2. While being given the tour of the building, my guide pointed at Martin (the EE) and said, "Martin is very smart. He makes us go."

I knew then that I had found the right company.

Jason

Carl Hayes · 2009-02-14 04:33

ElectricAye said...
I'm a Mech E and I like mechanical stuff. But when I couldn't figure out an economical way of counting photons using levers and springs, I had to make the descent.

Now that I like.· Reminds me of a poem I once read about Evolution, supposedly written by a monkey.· I remember only the last two lines:

········· Man descended, the ornery cuss,
········· But, brother, he didn't descend from us.

Also I'm reminded of Ambrose Bierce's definition of inventor:

Inventor, n.· A person who makes an ingenious arrangement of wheels, levers and springs, and believes it civilization.

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· -- Carl, nn5i@arrl.net

Post Edited (Carl Hayes) : 2/14/2009 4:39:43 AM GMT

rjo_ · 2009-02-14 05:47

I don't think that you can claim to understand anything unless you understand electronics.

So far, I make no claims...

All I know is that if Parallax had invented the transistor, I would understand transistors by now[noparse]:)[/noparse]

Ugha · 2009-02-14 12:19

I guess if there's ever any group in the world, outside of a convention, that would pickup on a star trek line... it'd be us [noparse]:)[/noparse]

We are such a bunch of geeks!

I understand what a lot of you are talking about.
I had an experience like JasonDorie, I passed by an ATM one day and suddenly realized that I understood every aspect of it, from the programming to the sensors to the security features.

It was almost a religious moment... the world seemed to open up to me and ever since I've been able to fix pretty much anything that I picked up... and annoy my fiance with technobabble.

Does anyone else have any "Wow, I know how that works!" moments?

LoopyByteloose · 2009-02-14 12:46

It is easier that learning a second language. In fact, it helps one to really understand language and where meaning really is. Try learning Chinese at 61 years old.

Also, every kid loves a black box that goes whirrr.... and jumps around. It is fun to be the magician.

If it were easy, I wouldn't stay with it. Like playing chess, you appreciate that no everyone can be a master. I used to do high work - walking around on 50 floor buildings under construction - and that is the same thrill. Not everyone feels comfortable on an I beam with a crane swinging overhead. And no everyone feels comfortable with electricity or being buried in the abstractions of code.

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Carl Hayes · 2009-02-14 15:35

Loopy Byteloose said...

Also, every kid loves a black box that goes whirrr.... and jumps around. It is fun to be the magician.

It went zip when it moved, bop when it stopped, whirrr when it stood still.
I never knew just what it was, and I guess I never will.

·················· Chad Mitchell Trio, about 1960

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ElectricAye · 2009-02-14 16:33

Ugha said...
...I passed by an ATM one day and suddenly realized that I understood every aspect of it, from the programming to the sensors to the security features....

Does anyone else have any "Wow, I know how that works!" moments?

I pass by an ATM and think: Oh my gawd there's another appendage of the global banking system. And NOBODY has a clue how that's put together.

parsko · 2009-02-14 18:23

You know those lists that everyone tells your to write, and place on the wall above your bed or computer monitor titled "Life goals". Well, about 4 years ago, I decided to add:

fuel inject my dirtbike

That eventually led me here. Since then, I've added (probably) way too many new items on my list!

Luckily, I'm in no rush to get them all done (with the exception of the automated litter box!)

-Parsko

Mike2545 · 2009-02-14 22:56

I have thought about this question for a few days now and I still don't have a complete answer, even for myself.
Maybe you have tried different things or like me have always had an interest in electronics. My father was an electrical engineer, research and development mostly, so I get it honestly.

I have filled my time with puzzles, movies, TV, video games, models and plenty of outdoor activities, but electronics is the one thing that always draws and holds my attention. I have learned a few tricks along the way and every time I learn a new one its like a new tool that I put in my tool belt. I have to agree that it is like magic (Philldapill), especially to the uninitiated.

I guess the best answer I can give is; that it is challenging enough to keep me engaged and difficult enough never to get boring with enough rewards along the way not to be dreadful.

Edit: I made an automatic litter box for my dogs...

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Mike2545

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Post Edited (Mike2545) : 2/15/2009 12:15:08 AM GMT

Jay Kickliter · 2009-02-15 13:32

I thought I was the only one working a better litter box.

Carl Hayes · 2009-02-15 17:20

Mike2545 said...
I have filled filled my time with ...·models· ...

I've always been interested in models.· Even dated a few ...

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· -- Carl, nn5i@arrl.net

Mike2545 · 2009-02-15 17:40

What did you think I meant?

Plastic toys?

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Mike2545

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Oldbitcollector (Jeff) · 2009-02-15 18:11

The thread had already made several Startrek references.
What were we suppose to assume? [noparse]:)[/noparse] [noparse]:)[/noparse]

Shame on me for stereotyping.. <SMIRK>

OBC

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Gadgetman · 2009-02-16 10:59

Why we do it?

We do it not because it's easy, but because it's difficult.

Anyone can build model airplanes, collect stamps, or even spot trains.(They're bl**dy huge... not that much of a challenge, really)

I haven't collected stamps, or done any trainspotting(no railways close by, and the only locomotive I would want to see, 'Dovregubben' doesn't run any more), my RC gliders are packed away, jigsaw puzzles can only hold my attention for a weekend at most, and sometimes, not even SuDoku or Kakuro puzzles feels too tame.

When my brain runs on idle, bad things happens... Real bad...
I owe it to the world not to let that happen.

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BradC · 2009-02-16 11:26

Ugha said...

Does anyone else have any "Wow, I know how that works!" moments?

Actually, I get more surprised by those "Man, how does that work?" moments.. often closely followed by "Honey! Where did you put my screwdrivers" which is the followed by the appearance of a female bearing a screwdriver set with the customary rolling of the eyes and the "here we go again" expression.

There are two ways to figure out how something works. One, ask someone who knows, or Two, find out yourself. Guess which one tends to stick best?

If it were up to me I'd be presenting each newborn child today with a copy of "What makes it go" by Richard Scarry and a quality screwdriver set.. Oh and a Radio Shack 200-in-1 kit with a bundled Forest Mims III collection.

Then we'd see who's dumbing down what!

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CannibalRobotics · 2009-02-16 16:13

The perfect hobby has three criteria that must be satisfied.
They are:
1) It costs allot of money.
2) It wastes allot of time.
3) It irritates your significant other.

Robotics anyone!

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BradC · 2009-02-17 12:25

CannibalRobotics said...
The perfect hobby has three criteria that must be satisfied.
They are:
1) It costs allot of money.
2) It wastes allot of time.
3) It irritates your significant other.

Bagpipes!

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Cardinal Fang! Fetch the comfy chair.

Why you do that voodoo that you do?

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