Recommendation for electronics forums?

I'm looking for an online electronics forum (web-based) where I can post some questions.

Don't get me wrong: I love, and usually prefer, Usenet. But I'm trying to educate myself here, am working on a project, and a web forum that allows one to post pictures would be better for my purposes. At least I'd like to try it. (The subject of my current research is the ins and outs of op amps.)

Ideally, I'd like a forum where rank amateurs like me can post questions that may be answered by "respected regulars" with lotsa knowledge on the subject.

Now, if the answer turns out to be "What, are you nuts? There ain't no such thing!", then I guess I can live with that ...

--
The phrase "jump the shark" itself jumped the shark about a decade ago.

- Usenet

One would be the combined forum for Nuts & Volts magazine and Servo magazine at

Then there are the forums run by Circuit Cellar at Also Elektor over at

--
Rich Webb     Norfolk, VA

A bit bipolar, if you ask me...

--
You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a Band-Aid? on it, because it's
Teflon coated.

Get a ham license. Then you can find people who actively design and build things, like to talk about them and would gladly help you.

Not quite a web forum, but more personal.

Geoff.

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Geoffrey S. Mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to misquote it.

"Geoffrey S. Mendelson"

** That is in the same class as needing a pint of milk and so buying a cow.

.... Phil

It's the difference between learning to ride a bicycle by going to a riding club versus sitting on stools and moving your feet.

(first told to me in the 1960's to describe programing classes that had no access to a computer).

Sorry, but IMHO the level of expertise and education you will get on a web forum is pretty low.

Why not get your education from people who actually use the things and follow an almost 100 year tradition of educating newcomers? In my experience the engineers who did it "for a job" were boring and uninventive, the passionate ones were hams.

The amount of effort is nothing like it used to be, you can earn a ham license in a weekend. You just need to answer 75% of 50 multiple choice questions corrent about basic electronics, radio theory and law. No morse code. No circuit drawings, etc.

Geoff.

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Geoffrey S. Mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to misquote it.

On 3/19/2011 9:28 PM Phil Allison spake thus:

I agree, not a very good piece of advice.

--
The phrase "jump the shark" itself jumped the shark about a decade ago.

- Usenet

I think you have to refine your overall goals/interests. There are many places you can find out "how to use an op amp" (or, "how an op amp works", etc.).

But, what you *want* to use that op amp for is probably where you will get far more pertinent information/advice if you can refine your needs better.

E.g., using an op amp to design a battery charger is different than using an op amp to buffer the pickup from an electric guitar or to implement a feedback loop in a robotic servo controller.

A place that will give you "textbook" advice on how an op amp works (or can be applied) will leave you wondering, "OK, now how do I use that to ____________?" OTOH, a more targeted "forum" can tell you, "Why bother with an op amp? You can use a pair of transistors configured like ___________ to give you the results you need... with the following advantages: " Or, "If you use an op amp in that sort of application, you will need to add an external output stage to give you increased ___________. You can do that by _____________."

You've got to be kidding. I know a lot of hams who don't even own a soldering iron. They ship their radios off for factory service, unlike

40 years ago.

--
You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a Band-Aid? on it, because it's
Teflon coated.

news:sci.electronics.basics or news:sci.electronics.design are both good. You get more hand holding in the .basic group, but you see the same people from the .design group. They have more patience on the .basic group which is intended to teach electronics, while the .design group is to trade ideas between professional designers.

--
You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a Band-Aid? on it, because it's
Teflon coated.

"Geoffrey S. Mendelson"

** Only the " silent majority " ever did that ..........

And none of them or the current few would have a clue about the use of op-amps in relation to audio.

Wot a f****it idea.

Musta come from a radio ham.

.... Phil

"Geoffrey S. Mendelson"

** Errr - since when do current radio hams use op-amps for anything ??

Most have no soldering irons or design knowledge at all.

** New comers to ham radio generally get an " education " all right. ** Hmmm - that bodes well for giving new comers advice an all matters electronic..... ** Same goes for the jokers you will find on the ham radio bands.

Like this guy:

Geoffrey S. Mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM

BTW

The amateur bands have been damn near silent here in Australia for decades.

The hobby is all but dead.

CB radio, the internet and GSM phones have destroyed it.

.... Phil

Totally irrelevant. I know a lot of people who can barely figure out how to put gasoline in their cars, but that does not mean there are is no one who knows how they work, and repair and "upgrade" their cars.

It's like this group. You ask a question and you get answers. Most of them are not worth the paper they were never printed upon.

You go to a web forum, you get the same results. You ask a bunch of hams and you get an answer. Not from all of them, but from one or two who know what they are talking about.

Geoff.

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Geoffrey S. Mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to misquote it.

Amateur radio has largely become a plug 'n play hobby. Hams still build antennas, and sometimes high-power finals, but other than small projects and accessories, they mostly buy things. Don't expect to walk into a shack and find a home-brew receiver these days.

One of the purposes in licensing amateur radio operators was to build a base of people with both theoretical and practical knowledge of electronics. It's not clear that it still does this.

Not so! If you understand The Basic Rule in op-amp circuit design, you'll see that there is no difference among these applications. Nor will you be wondering how to do something.

National Semiconductor had an on-line seminar "explaining" op-amp circuit design -- hostessed by a woman, of course -- and nowhere in it is The Basic Rule even hinted at.

And Bob Pease had the nerve to tell me that my editing didn't improve the quality of his (or others') writing!

That's true. But you will find home brew (or at least kit) QRP rigs, audio and microphone amps, and similar items.

Except in the UK, where one of the requirments for getting their "foundation" license is to have built something.

It still does. Like everyone who uses a computer, most people could never program their way out of a paper bag, there is a large population of hams who can't design or build anything. But there is still a small percentage, say 10% that do. In the US, that's about 60,000 or so. Enough that David should not have trouble finding one.

The main objective of ham radio was to have a pool of radio operators ready in case of an emergency. In 1920 that meant being able to send and receive Morse code. In 2011, that means knowing how to set up and operate an FM two way radio, and how to take and pass messages correctly with little or no instuctions and not panicing.

Geoff.

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Geoffrey S. Mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to misquote it.

No, you only "get" to that point with experience. There are different design issues involved in each of the above applications. If you understand how an op amp works "in theory", you can look at an EXISTING circuit and suss out the functionality that the op amp is providing. But, that doesn't mean that you would be able to come up with the particular circuit topology that is avoiding some particular *real* (vs theoretical) limitation of that

*particular* op amp and/or leveraging some particular characteristic thereof.

If it could all be boiled down to a simple rule, then EVERYONE would be able to design perfect circuits "first time, every time" -- with/without SPICE.

I want to design a 2KW, 2KV SMPS and use an op amp to compute the error term. Should be no different than designing a pickup for an electric guitar, right? Should I expect to have either/both of those designs on my desk, this afternoon, *completed*?? error

I think that is a matter of simple economics. You can buy finished, tested, "legit" product for less than you can purchase the components needed to build same. And, often, getting those components is tedious -- unless you have a business account to which you can add the order (or, buy THAT SORT OF COMPONENTS in big enough quantities that a sales rep will sample you a few pieces). Most electronic suppliers don't want to deal with small orders. And, the places that *will* have hefty markups (or don't carry the more exotic components).

I think dropping the code requirement was a clear acknowledgement of this. Now they're just trying to hold onto their frequency allocations. :-/

And, in practical terms, there are fewer and fewer things that even a motivated ham can design or repair in a modern household (contrast this with how "capable" he/she would be in a 1960's household)

I probably overstated the case, but understanding Basic Principles can be a major leg-up to creating a workable design.

A person who doesn't understand The Basic Rule of Op-Amp Circuit Operation is going to have a lot of trouble.

I might add that, several years ago, I asked the English gentleman who worked with Bob Pease at National to tell me what that Rule was -- and bang, he said it right out, without any hints.