Let me ask what made the light bulb in your head go on?
metron9
Posts: 1,100
Yes a funny question but serious indeed. As one learns a new subject, at some point at least for me a light bulb goes off and I say "I understand it now!"
My question is, at what point did it all make sense to you. As you learned about circuits what would you say were the things that made you say I know what I am doing I get it. Specific books, Teachers, experiments, just sitting and pondering all the information till it gells? Reading spec sheets? Learning more math? or Physics? if you did not like me have any background in either.
My question is, at what point did it all make sense to you. As you learned about circuits what would you say were the things that made you say I know what I am doing I get it. Specific books, Teachers, experiments, just sitting and pondering all the information till it gells? Reading spec sheets? Learning more math? or Physics? if you did not like me have any background in either.
Comments
·· I don't think you're going to get an exact answer for that.· That would be unique to each and every person.· Even now I find that some things·take me a day to get, while others I still don't get.
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Chris Savage
Parallax Tech Support
csavage@parallax.com
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·1+1=10
I get them everytime I find away around a wall I hit with projects.
"The most important stuff is the stuff that you learn once you know everything."
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P.S. This is what this part of the alphabet would look like if "Q" and "R" were eliminated.
I think the light bulb came on for me when I grasped the math better. The RF (radio frequency) field really came to light. As always the hands on stuff helped the most. I have read that 80% of our learning is in the hands on mode.
There is no such thing as a stupid question.
Sofa
how it works. I've been gulty at times of doing a cut n paste for a certain application and not really understanding
it very well. It comes back to haunt me when I try to "merge" with some other code. "For" example was loops
I had a buddy show me how they worked .... that specific app worked but the "Ligh Bulb" wasnt lit yet. Once I sat down
and drilled it into my head ... I was like WOW! This reduces code and makes it easier to read !!!! Ligh Bulb ON !!
mikey
Koy Ja !
The best way I know to learn about digital electronics and electronics in general, is to start using logic chips.
The very basic chips. logic, the cheap ones. that way if you fry it, for the 5th time you don't worry.
Its also good to pick up the book " Practial Electronics for Inventors " I would say its the best book for a serious beginner. (its good for non-beginners too"
check out http://www.datasheetarchive.com/
And the book http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0070580782/qid=1124592483/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-4821225-5990547?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
Being mostly self taught in electronics, I try to figure out how I can make the light go out rather than turn on. This
approach leads to "thinking outside the book". Those who follow my responses here in the forum ( taken with a grain of salt )
may have "light bulbs" of their own going off based on this reply. Most important have fun doing what you are doing
and help others when you can, that's the brightest light you will experience.
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Beau Schwabe
IC Layout Engineer
Parallax, Inc.
·· I too am self-taught from way back.· When I couldn't figure something out one way, I tried another.· For example, I read books on transistors, frying several.· Then I bought a kit from Radio Shack (150-in-1) and found it's explanations and example circuits much easier to understand (And wire).
·· Speaking of Radio Shack, I don't know if they have them anymore, but I bought several engineer's notebooks from them many years ago.· And I know that at least a few years ago they still had the mini-engineer's notebooks.· I always found them to be a good source of learning and example circuits, as well as good reference (I still keep 4 of them on my bench, one's from 1982).
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Chris Savage
Parallax Tech Support
csavage@parallax.com
So its 2:00 am and I have been pooring over the books and testing voltages and finding out just how small the memory is in the BS2, for 7 hours now whew, man at least when I was programming the Commodore64 I had 4k to work with assembly code. You know I wrote my own editor assembler called Instant Editor Assembler and that was before commodore marketed their macro assembler. Anyway I see I may be running into some memory storage problems with the task I see doing, going back to bits and bytes is going to be brain warmming though. As I searched the forums I finally found the link to Sparkfun where I found the little memory chips:
I
I2C EEPROMs
Description: 2 Wire Serial Communication (I2C) EEPROMS - The back bone of any microprocessor project. These 8 pin chips need only two wires to communicate and retain their data even with power failure. Use the 16K PROM for plenty of space, and the 256K PROM for some serious data storage!
Datasheets:
24LC256
24LC16B
SKU Number:GIC-EP
For $2.99 each, for 256k But I don't really know what I am looking at here, it says eeprom and proms but the description looks like it should be easy to communicate with just 2 pins. Can I plug one in my BS2 homework board and use it for external memory storage?
Another question, where do I find the specs on the processor used in the BS2 I dont even know what processor it is. and can I use assembler to program this thing like the PIC chips? I guess many dont like assembler, but I do.
I don't know much about the SX stuff here or how they compare to the PIC chips but I know I want to learn more about both as soon as I find my back against the wall with price points on the really cool item I just invented. Even the OEM priceing is pretty high for this item but if I could get it in the $10.00 range for a few hundred prototypes, That would be nice.
·· 200-in-1 was cool...I think our oldest has a 300-in-1 from a few years ago.· Things look different.· Now, as for limited memory on the BASIC Stamp...Most people who use it in real-world application don't find any real limitation.· Sure the C=64 has 64K (Not 4K), but could you put a Commodore 64 inside each project you wanted to control?· My Home PC has 2GB of RAM and over 1TB of HD space, but I don't use it for any type of control application.· Yet I have used BASIC Stamp in dozens of projects and designs.
·· As for technical information, all of the information you need can be gotten from our website.· The schematic for the BASIC Stamp 2, as well as a complete syntax and reference guide can be downloaded free in PDF format.· If you look at the schematic you will see what micro is used in the BASIC Stamp, as well as the EEPROM.
·· There again, there are dozens of schematics out there for connecting EEPROMs to the BASIC Stamp Modules for extra memory.· I'm not sure what books you're looking through, but we have quite a selection on our website, and any that we publish are free to download in PDF, and many will have circuits you're looking for.
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Chris Savage
Parallax Tech Support
csavage@parallax.com
just being able to look at the code and knowing that i understand the concept before looking
at the line description is refreshing .then looking at all these different possibilities ....
I have alot of work to do.
Thank you for "VAR"
Actually, I've found that a good teacher helps as does a good reference book. I still have my textbooks from my electronics classes. If I need to look anything up, I feel it is better to know where to look for answers rather than remember the exact formula myself. As for AC and RF stuff though, I still can't for the life of me intuitively grasp how microwave waveguides work. Maybe I need more calculus classes or something. I guess I'll be sticking to circuits below 1GHZ [noparse]:)[/noparse]
edit: knowing how to spell helps also.
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www.speechchips.com
Speech & Video IC's
They say there are four stages to learning anything. This little trueism helped me a lot when I taught some night classes a dozen or so years ago. It goes like this
1. You don't know what you don't know.
2. You then discover what you don't know. This is where you get intimidated and discouraged.
3. You then don't know that you know. You have the ability but you don't trust yourself.
4. You finaly know that you know. It is at this point that the light bulb comes on, but it also needs
the three previous stages. You think it's a breakthrough but it is a cumulative process.
By the way, there is tons of research on the learning curve and "Breaking through". The textbook "Engineered Work Measurement" I've just pulled down to review my knowledge is dated 1957 but the information is none the less very detailed.
But then in Africa where I come from, the light bulbs are mostly going out.
Kind Regards from Kwa Dukuza
John Bond
I would like to read that one someday. I agree with the post above yours too, when I need to do something I figure out how to do it.
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There's nothing a good wack with a hammer won't fix
Post Edited (Washer Medic) : 9/13/2005 6:36:23 AM GMT