Re-sent the PM. I don't know why it didn't work-- it seems to be in my "outbox" here at N&V.
I'm in the process of working through your online course. I took all of the self tests through Lesson 9 to make sure I remembered all of the math. I had to refresh my memory on the sums of powers... other than that I'm doing ok.
I've started reading carefully at Lesson 10. I suspect that most of this course will be review, nevertheless it will be very helpful because I haven't hand-analyzed a circuit in probably 6 or 7 years. I've done a little computer analysis, but the digital circuits I've done are so simple that I haven't had to do much of anything. That said, I'm sure my solutions aren't ideal in terms of power performance, but they usually do work. But I feel like I'm ready to take it to the "next level".
Yes, it does... however you can download the C18 compiler for free from their web site. Get the "student version". It's unlocked for the first 60 days, and then it becomes a limited version which essentially disables optimization.Also, does the Microchip demo require a C compiler for the PIC?
The best homebrew solution I've seen so far is here.Yes i wondered about soldering those BGA chips too, if they could
be done with perhaps a heat gun on the back of the pc board.
I haven't tried it yet, and I don't know if it would work with home made PCBs. But I would like to try it at some point in the future. It also seems like an easy way to mount other SMT parts.
It sounds a lot like a UPS system to me, but I'm sure it's more complicated than just that. When I think of a "solid state relay", I think MOSFETs. Is this what comprises it?The AC transfer switch is a solid state relay...
This sounds very similar to the digital oscilloscope project at FPGA4FUN.com. I tried this project, but I destroyed my ADC card because it does not have overvoltage protection. For a while, though, I had a useful 1-channel 100MSPS oscilloscope. Now I don't currently have a scope. As you said, USB would probably be good for this kind of project, but the protocol gets very involved so it's just not as simple as using a UART (unless of course you are using USB-to-serial, but then I don't think you are taking advantage of the full device speed).The PC scope used memory chips...
Hey, if you haven't played with FPGAs yet, I highly suggest that you do. Try one of the cheap Pluto-II cards from FPGA4FUN.com. It's a very interesting technology.
I like your user interface a lot for the voltage meter. It's very "clean". Sometimes people can get carried away with all sorts of crazy controls so that their UIs look like the inside of an F-15 cockpit.
Yes, I have heard of that problem with Energizer cells... that's really interesting!The cells were made by Energizer and it is known to be a problem
with some of them now.
Yes, I agree... I am willing to do the work to get there, though i have to admit that the "hands-on" stuff has always been the most appealing part of electronics to me.Still, i think we should start off with something more
basic to get a feel for the basic properties of things.
Yes, this seems very close to C... looks like a combination of Basic or Pascal and C. What's the name of that language? Would this be for working through examples?Since you have some programming experience too then you wont find it hard to pick up a new language that is easier to use than C.
Don't be silly... Actually it took me quite a while to actually get a "feel" for voltage and current. It's one thing to know what they are, but another to grasp how they actually work. I think the most confusing thing for me was that you can have a high voltage but a low current and vice-versa. Strictly according to Ohm's law-- the higher the voltage, the higher the current for a given resistance. In reality there are current limits to the sources you are using.Sorry to ask so many basic questions
This is a simple point that really isn't covered by basic electronics courses that just touch on the "theory" and not the hands-on.
I'm not opposed to learning anything, as long as it leads to something practical that can be used in an application.The eigens of a matrix are sometimes used to determine the transfer function in the time domain. We dont really have to do this...Ok, we wont worry about the State equations just yet.
That sounds like a plan... start with the linear stuff! No, I don't know how do design an inductor though it would be cool to learn how to do it!
Yeah, don't those HP's use RPN or something like that? That is a little confusing to learn if I recall. I think it has a built-in stack or something? Stacks can be very confusing for non-computer oriented individuals.rather than the HP calculator because that can be
somewhat hard to use...maybe that's why everyone gave up.
I think so! Actually making stuff yourself is incredible. When I first discovered about a year or so ago that you could use microcontrollers to interface with PCs, I was shocked and amazed. My first PC was a VIC-20, back when I was about 7 years old. Ever since then, I have been imagining all sorts of different devices... and to find that you can actually build them yourself is incredible!I didnt think you would drop out as you seem to have a
big interest in analog and digital circuits, maybe as much as
i do?