EEVblog Q&A #1 Announcement

[EEVblog]

Submit your questions for the first EEVblog Q&A video, either in the youtube comments, blog website, or forum thead here:

DO  NOT comment on this video, this is for Q&A questions only. If you do I'll delete it, and probably ban your arse for being an idiot who can't follow simple rules.

[mamalala]

Now that you have a JBC soldering station, what do you think about the importance to be able to adjust the temperature, and why?

Is a tight control loop preferable to an adjustable temperature?

What about "regular" irons and their arangement of heater/tip/sensor? Do you think they are capable of a tight temp control, compared to the arrangement that modern station use? (i.e.: all that in a small area of the exchangebake tip-cartrigde)

Greetings,

Chris

[rexxar]

You showed Sagan hanging out in your new component cabinet a while back (and posted some pictures on twitter). Can we see that? How do you sort your components, E24 series sorted by magnitude or? Do you keep an inventory, or is that too tedious?

[TNb]

Hi! Always wanted to ask you one thing(sorry if question is kinda long):
I am student and now I have two possibilities to continue my study - study software programming(I mean in depth) or study electronics(in depth too, microprocessors VLSI and other complex stuff). I'm struggling about it since software programming is easy for me, have no problems with that, but it's boring as shit, I'm tired of doing it. Electronics is harder for me, but it also much more interesting.
But the question really is - how likely it is to get a good job in electronics field?
I mean in software programming there are a lot of positions to work and you can also freelance, but I don't see a lot of companies offering place for VLSI designer or VHDL programmer or anything at all. And needless to say there is no freelance for it.
I just want to do the stuff I like in my life, but I'm scared to be out on the street with no money because of that or end up working as a stupid clerk and hating every second of my workday.

So questions are:
how likely it is to get a good(!) job in electronics field?
and how should find it? I found almost nothing on job offering sites(at least in Europe).

Thanks!

[aalbri]

Hey Dave.

I just finished my BSEE. Could you talk about how to gain enough experience to get a good electronic development job? I come from a poor family and never got to mess with electronics til I was at university, but I really love it. My biggest problem is figuring out what to focus on (software, circuit theory, etc).

[iceisfun]

Hi Dave

Can you talk about the most important mathematics of electronics, there is a ton of stuff to learn and maybe you know some of the best books?

[Scutarius]

What's up with the power supply project? still working on it?

What about the new uCurrent version, it is going to be cheaper?

What is, approximately, the total amount of money you have on equipment? from 3d printers, oscilloscopes to multimeters.

for what company would you consider to move to the states and live there for a while?

What about making your own company and making custom products for companies(like IDEO)?  is that feasible, for a living, in Australia?

Is there any project that you really want to work on but simply would take months of work and leave the EEVBlog?

is there any new micro-something gadget coming up?

Thank you

[tiofilo75]

Hi Dave, I just wanted to ask for your opinion on whether its a good idea to start my career by pursuing an  RF technician position after earning my E.E degree or go for an RF engineering position right of the bat. Not sure if that makes any sense. I have about a year left in college and I was thinking that I would like to start from the bottom where I can troubleshoot components to get a better idea of how they function and get my hands dirty before I move onto an actual engineering position. Thanks.

[Rutger]

What do you think electronics is going to look like in the next 10-20 years? Any predictions?

[Strada916]

What would be your advice to anyone who would like to start their own yt/podcast channel? What are some of your own goals in eevblog, did you think you would get this far? Can this type of business/hobby be sustainable in years tocome?

[Goophy629]

so a possible repeated question, the uSupply again, any info regarding the progress of the project? Thanks

[Whales]

It is part of the culture of some electronic suppliers to rebrand or replace popular parts with duplicates (fakes) -- but I understand this is only uncommonly a bad thing, as it provides a price buffer against availability change and often the non-genuine parts are just as good, or good enough for it not to matter.  Do you buy your parts strictly from reputable resellers, or do you embrace the culture of ordering anything with the right part number off eBay?  XOR is there a good place in-between?

If a young hobbyist came to you in Sydney and asked if they could borrow books off you, would you oblige? 

[mtc2629]

what is the eev corporate tower or where ever you work at and the dumpster dive videos when is that and isn't that stealing

[opablo]

I heard you may be designing a new version of the uCurrent....

Do you find this construction design interesting for such a project ?

http://blog.spitzenpfeil.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/IMGP7653.jpg

on the back there's a cr2032 socket... I think that's quite a neat design for a device like the uCurrent...

[asgard]

Hi Dave,
What would you say is a good short list of things to consider when transitioning and learning to do 4-layer board design?  Do you think that Eagle will do the job anywhere as well as Altium, where moderate-sized devices are concerned?  What is the best way to prepare the design files for panellizing and/or pick+place, or is the board shop likely to do that for you?
J.R. from the Mt. Shasta area

[iWalrus]

Hi Dave,

What are your thoughts on butane gas powered irons?

I do have a cheap one (from Jaycar cat TS1111) for use in the field, and find it quite handy to have in my toolbox. It saves me time finding power for an electric one, and it heats up and cools down rather quickly. I find myself using it even at my lab bench where i could be using a mains iron. The downside to this iron is the exhaust port, that i constantly manage to blow across my fingers (ouch) or occasionally into the enclosure of the device I'm trying to repair. My next question comes from this; I want to get a decent one. Can you recommend a good gas iron? do you believe such a thing exists? could you maybe in the future do a video on gas irons?

One more question: I want to start doing microcontroller development. Currently I mess around with PICAXE chips, but that's entry level stuff, and quite slow (compared to other chips out there). For a novice (i have moderate programming experience with Java) where should I start?

Cheers,
Walrus.

[jeremy]

Why aren't there any good USB based oscilloscopes for a reasonable price? Surely if you can buy a 4 channel DS1000Z for $1k (which has USB and ethernet mind you), you should be able to buy the same thing minus the screen and controls for less?

I'm serious! Is there something I'm missing?

[apelly]

What are the chances of an eevblog wiki? I understand there is associated admin overhead, but some of the long threads here, as well as some topics which are quite dispersed, would really benefit from a method for community consolidation.

It was just pointed out to me that there is indeed a wiki already. There's nothing like looking like a dick in public hey?

Anyway, the wiki looks hardly used. What are the chances of adjusting divs upper_section or main_menu on the forum to include a link to eevblog.com and the wiki?

[casper.bang]

For several years, I worked from home with an Atlantic between me and my colleague?s/boss. Working from home can be super nice but also have its drawbacks, particular when it comes to delivery and time management - procrastination, feature creep and other excuses not to finish what one is working on, kicks in several times a day! Finishing something is hard work and the artist in us will always claim our work is never truly finished!

I now know the status of the uSupply, that I should not necessarily expect a Fundamental Friday (but do expect a Sagan Monday) and that we should not ask too many questions about it - but this can be a little confusing to a new audience. Considering 1 finished project is usually beneficial to 10 unfinished in so many ways, have you tried adopting a GTD, Scrum board or similar method, to follow through on the structure I feel you would like to have, but appears to fail at implementing? Was MM, FF etc. an attempt at time-slotting your time and have you since abandoned this but kept the names?

[Orpheus]

I've read (and will review again) your posts on what software you use, but I have a specific question: which packages are the best for "pop-ups"? I have always been perversely fascinated by those, but have never done them.  I plan to start a (non-competing) channel that is likely to be revision-heavy

[M0BSW]

 My question Dave, Is there a defined way for fault finding , such a  order in which way things should be checked, a fault finding chart for example like switch it on power  yes or no, then it branches off to the next question, depending which answer. that type of thing.  part of me is thinking this is a stupid question, however I really don't know, so thought I'd ask.

Q2 if you have the time can we have more repair videos, as this is the type of electronics most of us end up doing
Paul

[Oracle]

Is there any ultra low cost solution where to stock a large number of electronic components?? DIY should be a good option to consider?

[Ericho]

Hi Dave,

Q1 How do I match a PNP and NPN transistor ? for example a 2N3904 and a 2n3906

Q2 are you still using your IET DE-5000 and what is your opinion of it after some use ?

Kind reg

[Jon86]

As an electronics student, do you think there are any concepts or utilities that I should learn before I go on to degree-level education to make my life easier? Say for example learning how to use an FPGA or the basics of designing an RF PCB?

[tarrryan]

Hello Dave,

I have a younger cousin about nine years old who has displayed a keen interest in electronics, I have taught him ohm's law which he can remember easily enough and also do maths in binary/BCD like it was a written number, It only took half an hour to explain the idea behind binary/BCD before he was asking me for math problems to solve! Up till now i have only seen him a few times a year from from January ill see him on a frequent basis.

So my question is how would you personally go about teaching someone as young as him the basics of resistance, current and voltage? I have been trying to think of my own ways but every source of input is more than welcome.

The little blighter is very curious and eager to learn, who known maybe we have a British version of Dave in the making!

Thankyou very much

Ryan Tarr