understanding schematics

I wasn't going to say anything... but that's a good question.

Unfortunately the university system is failing... those that can, do... those that can't, teach :-(

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.      Sometimes I even put it in the food.

So in what way do you practice electronic engineering without this skill ?

Most ppl who are good at electronics start as a hobby when teenagers. There are still some decent magazines. Here's a couple of UK ones.

You could examine manufacturers' application notes too. Some give good examles of complete circuits. There's a few 'cook books' around too.

Best of all IMHO is to design your own project.

Graham

Hello Jim,

I wouldn't say that. I know a really good engineer who is switching careers. He is going to become a teacher in a large city where that kind of job certainly is not for the faint of heart. One reason he does it is that he thinks kids need a good education. Wants to do his share. He is even learning Spanish to be able to communicate with folks whose English is limited. Needless to say, this decision will come with a sigificantly lower income.

To Nirav: Get the book "The Art of Electronics". Should have gotten it well before your degree but it's never too late.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com

I agree. The system needs improvement.

Just before I graduated, there was a guy in one of my labs that truly did not understand the difference between an input and an output. This guy *did* graduate, too. Unbelievable!

It's my opinion that an EE degree should take 8 years to complete. Each year would be 6 months of study and then 6 months of hands-on internship.

Bob

hmm, and you have a EE degree ?

--
Real Programmers Do things like this.
http://webpages.charter.net/jamie_5

ust before I graduated, there was a guy in one of my labs that truly did

Yes, true. I know some female EE who fall > >>Nirav Chokshi wrote:

years ago when I was enrolling for my ME, I was talking to a chinese lady who had a BE and ME from China, and was doing an ME in NZ because nobody would hire her; she worked as a PCB stuffer. She reckoned it was racism (partly true, kiwis dont like people who cant speak english). So I gave her one of my interview questions:

"Using anything you like, make a 0V off, 5V on logic signal control an LED whose anode is connected to a +24V supply"

She couldnt draw the symbols for resistors, LEDs, transistors....bloody hopeless. I refrained from pointing out that the job interview would be over at that point.

I was given that question in my first real job interview. My first cut involved a 5V buzzer, a resistor, a bench power supply and a TO-220 SCR with a long wire attached to the led. hook the buzzer to the 5V signal so 5V = on. place the resistor in series with the led, across the bench

+24V psu. slide the TO-220 mounting hole over the bench psu toggle switch. When the buzzer goes off, pull on the wire soldered to the SCR, the switch toggles and the LED will light. My soon-to-be boss liked it, then clarified the question somewhat. So I did it with an emitter switched BC547 - base to +5V, resistor from E to logic, LED from +24V to C. my boss liked that even more. Then he started asking really tricky questions. 2 hours later I felt like a wrung-out dishrag. but he gave me the job. And changed the job title from software engineer to design engineer.

Cheers Terry

[snip]

Since when do New Zealanders speak English?

8~|

Bob

Sadly this is very common place here in Australia. Most grads and many supposedly experienced people I've interviewed can't pass my basic interview questions. Real easy stuff like "what's the beta of a transistor", "calculate a LED dropper resistor value", "draw an op-amp voltage follower", "what's the input impedance of a CRO" etc.

One supposedly experienced "microcontroller expert" couldn't even name me two brands of microcontrollers.

One thing I like doing is giving them a PCB and get them to tell me anything about it at all. No right or wrong answers, and I find out what they know about design, construction, layout, components, testing, repair etc

Another guy bought in his thesis project documentation, so I opened it up and asked him to explain what this chip in his design did. He couldn't tell me, even though it was written in the "theory of operation" text underneath which he couldn't figure out. Clueless.

It's amazing what a few simple questions at an interview brings out.

A degree counts for almost nothing when I look through Resume's, I'd rather hire a cluey hobbyist than a clueless EE grad any day!

There should be an "electronics design" degree course that has 80% individual projects and lab work and 20% theory!

Dave :)

You got the polarity wrong somewhere - 0V will turn the LED ON. :-)

LOL.

You're right, it was the other way round, just to make the problem more interesting.

Cheers Terry

all a degree really proves is that you have a degree. and have met at least the minimum requirements to get said degree.

which is why employers are usually far more interested in the last X jobs.

Still, declining uni standards are good for business ;)

Cheers Terry

[snip]

Not to be sexist, but you certainly missed the opportunity to demonstrate to her that outputs plug into inputs ;-)

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.      Sometimes I even put it in the food.