1) Not enough AC outlets to plug all the power supplies and test equipment into. And AC cords and power supply leads running all over the bench.
2) Can't find enough clip leads.
3) Erratic, intermittant scope probes.
4) Smell of soldering iron melting insulation inadvertantly or of burning components.
5) Not enough colors of wire/insulation on hand.
6) Scratching paint on xfmrs during breadboarding.
7) Not enough room to store all my junk/components, and can't ever find anything besides.
8) No surplus/cheap HV SMPS. And not much interesting at the usual surplus electronic sources anymore either. (robot gears or backlight LCD panels anyone?)
9) Microsoft absolutely ruined the Basic programing language (Visual Basic) for doing data acquisition, so very hard now to use a PC to do measurements and take data/graphs/curves unless you want to run DOS/Basic.
10) Touching HV inadvertantly while probing/testing and too many power supplies to turn off each time for safety, to change a circuit/component. (And the need to sequence power supplies correctly to avoid burning something up.) Need a sequencer to control the supplies with a single push button.
2) Can't find enough clip leads.
3) Erratic, intermittant scope probes.
4) Smell of soldering iron melting insulation inadvertantly or of burning components.
5) Not enough colors of wire/insulation on hand.
6) Scratching paint on xfmrs during breadboarding.
7) Not enough room to store all my junk/components, and can't ever find anything besides.
8) No surplus/cheap HV SMPS. And not much interesting at the usual surplus electronic sources anymore either. (robot gears or backlight LCD panels anyone?)
9) Microsoft absolutely ruined the Basic programing language (Visual Basic) for doing data acquisition, so very hard now to use a PC to do measurements and take data/graphs/curves unless you want to run DOS/Basic.
10) Touching HV inadvertantly while probing/testing and too many power supplies to turn off each time for safety, to change a circuit/component. (And the need to sequence power supplies correctly to avoid burning something up.) Need a sequencer to control the supplies with a single push button.
If you are not willing to upgrade to Linux, at least try learning C in windows!...
Now, following popular dislike: I hate the smell of burnt ICs!... Not only it's fetid, it's a constant reminder of your stupidity!!!
I burned a triac the other day, it was in series with a transformer, but I switched the secondary and the primary!
GOSH! What a smell!!!
A few laws that smother me (& my diy-ing)
What i'm invariably up against (& hate)
- every time I improve upon part of the circuit, I lose sleep about how I can further improve on the improvement. Six months later, I've forgotten what the initial point of the design was.
- As a general rule, any improvement I make invariably leads to another improvement, all of them together often leading back to the initial schematic -- by which time I've lost track of what is better -- if anything.
- making holes in the chassis only to find that I can get away without those holes -- or I need holes in a different place.
- putting together a beautifully performing "test" circuit on a piece of wood (you don't expect much fm a piece of wood, right?) and then transposing same nicely onto pcb, only to find that there is noise coming out of nowhere. Put same back to piece of wood, noise stops. (I gave up on figuring that one out)
- putting the bare circuit into a box (finally, six months later) only to find it no longer sounds as good /or I think it doesn't.
- the continued and justified complaints fm wife about that live experimental dac test-board with outboard PS (i.e. any tranny I found lying around & connected), waiting to be perfected and then put into a chassis for the past 60 months.
*- It usually takes me 6months' gestation period to think about what I'm going to do with anything that seems to work after the first assembly, so:
-I HATE having to go fm first assembly to final version, including that beautiful wooden chassis with internal copper sheet divisions that always end up with a hole in the wrong place because I've eliminated the component that was supposed to be there AFTER getting the tech to drill the hole.
Jeez, EEs are lucky in some respects; they've been taught all the things I have had to find out (the hard way).
That's already advanced diy-ing in my book. You've actually finished it!!!Johannes LeBong said:
What i'm invariably up against (& hate)
- every time I improve upon part of the circuit, I lose sleep about how I can further improve on the improvement. Six months later, I've forgotten what the initial point of the design was.
- As a general rule, any improvement I make invariably leads to another improvement, all of them together often leading back to the initial schematic -- by which time I've lost track of what is better -- if anything.
- making holes in the chassis only to find that I can get away without those holes -- or I need holes in a different place.
- putting together a beautifully performing "test" circuit on a piece of wood (you don't expect much fm a piece of wood, right?) and then transposing same nicely onto pcb, only to find that there is noise coming out of nowhere. Put same back to piece of wood, noise stops. (I gave up on figuring that one out)
- putting the bare circuit into a box (finally, six months later) only to find it no longer sounds as good /or I think it doesn't.
- the continued and justified complaints fm wife about that live experimental dac test-board with outboard PS (i.e. any tranny I found lying around & connected), waiting to be perfected and then put into a chassis for the past 60 months.
*- It usually takes me 6months' gestation period to think about what I'm going to do with anything that seems to work after the first assembly, so:
-I HATE having to go fm first assembly to final version, including that beautiful wooden chassis with internal copper sheet divisions that always end up with a hole in the wrong place because I've eliminated the component that was supposed to be there AFTER getting the tech to drill the hole.
Jeez, EEs are lucky in some respects; they've been taught all the things I have had to find out (the hard way).
Ok, this is great!
I've read all your posts, to earn the right to tell my piece of the story.
My most hated is when I figured out how to repair that jewel bought broken on eBay nearly for free, and in the process of fixing it (like a blown 7805, and of course we have hundreds of 'em in our junk) you make the idiot thing (invert power polarity or discharge that fat cap into the 100 pin controller chip the can't be replaced) and make the whole thing ready for the junk pile
I did it almost five times. Then I stopped counting.
After that I just go to eBay and buy more...
I've read all your posts, to earn the right to tell my piece of the story.
My most hated is when I figured out how to repair that jewel bought broken on eBay nearly for free, and in the process of fixing it (like a blown 7805, and of course we have hundreds of 'em in our junk) you make the idiot thing (invert power polarity or discharge that fat cap into the 100 pin controller chip the can't be replaced) and make the whole thing ready for the junk pile
I did it almost five times. Then I stopped counting.
After that I just go to eBay and buy more...
Re: A few laws that smother me (& my diy-ing)
Ooooh! I also hate electronics stores!! I don't know how is it abroad, but here in Brazil, it's like visiting a sphinx! If you don't know what you want exactly, get ready to be devoured. I specially hate when the balconist thinks I don't know what I want, and gives me the "the engineer told him wrong look", and I can't just say "I'm a ******* engineer, shutup!!" because it's just too cocky!
On the other side, there are some rare new stores with young girls as balconists, and I think they are trained to ask you things like "which one is the phillips screwdriver??..." Soooo lovely...
Now this is another interesting hateable aspect too: Graduate in e engineering, then start to play with some Real Life project, and discovering you were only told half the story!Gregm said:
Ooooh! I also hate electronics stores!! I don't know how is it abroad, but here in Brazil, it's like visiting a sphinx! If you don't know what you want exactly, get ready to be devoured. I specially hate when the balconist thinks I don't know what I want, and gives me the "the engineer told him wrong look", and I can't just say "I'm a ******* engineer, shutup!!" because it's just too cocky!
On the other side, there are some rare new stores with young girls as balconists, and I think they are trained to ask you things like "which one is the phillips screwdriver??..." Soooo lovely...
chassis chassis chassis... which is why I switched over to Front Panel Express or buying off the shelf stuff to modify
doing all the measurements on Front Panel Express - waiting 2-3 weeks to get the top plate and realizing you messed up on the transformer placement... which means manual drilling and messing up the beautiful anodized plate.
tracking down hum - which doesn't seem to be much of an issue after I built more and more stuff...
deciding layout and finding still having tight places - even using vector sockets
making something that sounds worse than the last project
and the tendency to over-engineer - if one regulator sounded good - then four must sound better!
doing all the measurements on Front Panel Express - waiting 2-3 weeks to get the top plate and realizing you messed up on the transformer placement... which means manual drilling and messing up the beautiful anodized plate.
tracking down hum - which doesn't seem to be much of an issue after I built more and more stuff...
deciding layout and finding still having tight places - even using vector sockets
making something that sounds worse than the last project
and the tendency to over-engineer - if one regulator sounded good - then four must sound better!
Hey...my turn..................!
1) All the (usually only U.S) people thinking that re-valueing a package makes them a criminal.
I'm the one that have to answer for missing info/value.
2) All the ebayers not shipping outside U.S
3) The cost of good tube-output trafos...and shipping...
Arne K
1) All the (usually only U.S) people thinking that re-valueing a package makes them a criminal.
I'm the one that have to answer for missing info/value.
2) All the ebayers not shipping outside U.S
3) The cost of good tube-output trafos...and shipping...
Arne K
Maths (math, to those in the US)
I made the mistake of dropping out of all but the most basic maths in high school. This makes for huge difficulty doing some design work and I find it very frustrating. I have no problem with the concepts of how things are working but working out values or getting really stuck into the theory is difficult.
The way my work life is going it's getting to be a big problem there as well and I'm seriously considering going and doing high school maths in adult education next year. I should have just done it in the first place, but I didn't always make the smartest decisions when I was 16.
I spent 7 years in a cabinetmakers and I've worked with metal most of my life. I love chassis work
I made the mistake of dropping out of all but the most basic maths in high school. This makes for huge difficulty doing some design work and I find it very frustrating. I have no problem with the concepts of how things are working but working out values or getting really stuck into the theory is difficult.
The way my work life is going it's getting to be a big problem there as well and I'm seriously considering going and doing high school maths in adult education next year. I should have just done it in the first place, but I didn't always make the smartest decisions when I was 16.
I spent 7 years in a cabinetmakers and I've worked with metal most of my life. I love chassis work
Many of these are recognisable.....allas.
I can add one fresh disappointment to the list: build a ladder-type stepped attenuator from scratch only to find out that in half of the positions only one channel plays.... ofcourse the positions I never use (too soft or too loud). Tomorrow's a new problem-solving day.
Maybe it's time for a feel-good thread to maintain the balance, it's starting to sound like diy is pure self-torture... My new amp sounds fantastic (and looks good too imo
) but that's really off-topic here
Simon
I can add one fresh disappointment to the list: build a ladder-type stepped attenuator from scratch only to find out that in half of the positions only one channel plays.... ofcourse the positions I never use (too soft or too loud). Tomorrow's a new problem-solving day.
Maybe it's time for a feel-good thread to maintain the balance, it's starting to sound like diy is pure self-torture... My new amp sounds fantastic (and looks good too imo
) but that's really off-topic hereSimon
