2nd Year Elec. Tech. Analog or Digital

[Deadwood]

Going into second year of electronics engineering technician and we need to make a decision whether we want to go into the analog side or digital. Apparently we get theory for both with a little more on one side plus the labs will be only on that side. In digital we will be building a 8088 and learning 741 op amps where analog will be more communications with encoding and signaling and etc.

Most are basing their decision on the teacher but I'm trying to base mine on the material. I'm interested in both areas though the 8088 sounds cooler to me and wire wrapping doesn't bother me. Second year guys told me that the analog side is more troubleshooting where the digital is more like building a kit from instructions and the only troubleshooting is if things don't work right....which they tend not too. They also think that there is no use for the outdated material being taught in digital.....I take their advise with a grain of salt.

So this is why I've come here to ask others (experienced) what their take on this choice is.

Analog or digital and why?

I should mention that I like electronics so much and that I want to understand it better that I'm supporting myself this summer so that I can continue imprinting what we've learned and learning some new things too so that I have a leg up for next year.....especially since it's a heavier work load. I'm looking at studying math, op amps, computer interfacing (parallel/usb) and dc/stepper motor drivers plus some programming too. I think this is a lot to learn on my own in 4 months so if you have suggestions about this, let me know.

Deadwood

 

[dknguyen]

Going into second year of electronics engineering technician and we need to make a decision whether we want to go into the analog side or digital. Apparently we get theory for both with a little more on one side plus the labs will be only on that side. In digital we will be building a 8088 and learning 741 op amps where analog will be more communications with encoding and signaling and etc.

Most are basing their decision on the teacher but I'm trying to base mine on the material. I'm interested in both areas though the 8088 sounds cooler to me and wire wrapping doesn't bother me. Second year guys told me that the analog side is more troubleshooting where the digital is more like building a kit from instructions and the only troubleshooting is if things don't work right....which they tend not too. They also think that there is no use for the outdated material being taught in digital.....I take their advise with a grain of salt.

So this is why I've come here to ask others (experienced) what their take on this choice is.

Analog or digital and why?

I should mention that I like electronics so much and that I want to understand it better that I'm supporting myself this summer so that I can continue imprinting what we've learned and learning some new things too so that I have a leg up for next year.....especially since it's a heavier work load. I'm looking at studying math, op amps, computer interfacing (parallel/usb) and dc/stepper motor drivers plus some programming too. I think this is a lot to learn on my own in 4 months so if you have suggestions about this, let me know.

Deadwood

Digital tends to be the more common and easier of the two. Analog is rarer and more difficult (hence all the troubleshooting!) and as such seem to be less replaceable. I like to think of digital vs analog being similar to computer engineering vs mechanical engineering- one changes very quickly, the other changes much more slowly (that's not to say the one that advances more quickly is easier! it tends to be the other way around!)

As for me, I tend to go "OOOOOOOOooooooo, an analog engineer" because I find the RF, filter, and oscillator, stuff crazy convoluted.

 

[Mikebits]

As a tech, you should know both areas well enough to get through a interview. I am surprised they ask you to specialize this early in your education. It is hard to predict the future and know where the industry is going. Digital is becoming more integrated into other devices thus being a blackbox, but at the same time a blackbox may be very complex in nature. Analog is a more nuts and bolts area but even that is changing. Who knows? Do what you like, adapt to the field as time progresses.

 

[teravenous]

I think digital electronic is more simple and funny then analog electronic. But you can't say that i just want to learn analog or digital. Because they are both important for projects. An example you want to build a robbot. You must know digital electronic in order to build main circuit of robbot. But you must know analog electronic in order to control your robbot with Radio Control. It's about that what are you gonna do ? Electronic have so many branches. When you decide that which branch you'll be interested in, you can research which informations do you need to learn...

teravenous

 

[Deadwood]

Ya, I think everyone in our class is making this decision too big of a deal. Most seem to think that it's a matter between getting a job and not. We're technicians so they seem to think that the analog side will be more troubleshooting and the digital will be more programming. I think the key is to learn the theory on both sides, since they are teaching it to us and come interview time, I'll simply study up more on the subject that the job will require me to know and practice. Either way, I intend to get the notes and info. off someone in the other section so that I will be informed on what they do so I don't miss out on anything in their labs, even if I need to spend the extra dough to buy the lab kits.

 

[BrownOut]

I doubt that it will matter much. As a tech, you're major contributions won't be theory, but your ability to build, solider, rework and take measurements in the lab. If you become competent at lab equpment, then you've done the best you can.

A couple years ago, I was working on a problem with a flash memory interface. My processor was intermittently freezing up while trying to read the flash memory. I couldn't capture any measurement data that proved the problem. My boss came in and set up the oscilloscope to show the history of every transaction, and use different colors to show how often a trace occured. The result was that on a rare occasion, the data from the memory came late, as shown by the color indication a rare occurance. To this day, I still don't know how he set up the test. If you can do that kind of work, you'll be light years ahead of the pack. Engineers typically don't take their own lab measurements, and rely on a tech's capabilities to get good lab data.

I also want to say that electronics can no longer be seperate from programming, and you need to be able to do both.

 

[Electronworks]

In the outside world, you need to be a good system engineer. I know so many analogue engineers that have no idea about microcontrollers and it really holds them back. Ask them to design a switched mode power supply and they are great. Ask them to design a simple data logger to put it in and they are lost.

I would go for analogue engineering as this is less likely to be outsourced to China, whereas there are an awful lot of digital heads coming out of the Far East that command a fraction of your salary and will do a better job.

Analogue still has a mistique about it.

BUT you still need to have an appreciation of the digital, so get yourself learning PICs. This will give you enough insight into processors, memory, interrupts, RAM, ROM and code to enable you to sit in meetings and talk at a system level.

Glad to see you asked the question and thanks for the post

 

[Ghost of the Shadows]

I also want to say that electronics can no longer be seperate from programming, and you need to be able to do both.

If you know a bit of C, can you get it through ?

I mean I've seen some codes of microcontrollers and it really doesn't look too harsh.

There must be somekind of a learning curve, but it looked fun.

edit: I'm talking about PIC programming here.

 

[canadaelk]

8088, wow, that takes me back. Do they also use a PDB-8?
To totally simplify: digital is 0 and 1. Learn the concept and the language, you can write code (maybe not good one, but you can).
Design a complex digital pcb: you better be equipped with a fair amount af analog (transmission lines, effect of ground planes, 45s or 90s and so much more) knowledge.
Most digital systems will have an analog in and out. No robot is without. Even the kids toys come with wheels and that is analog.
Analog is more demanding. Will it pay more in the future? Who knows.
Electronics has been good to my financial health but I had to be flexible. Your education starts when you leave college.
Cheers, E
PS: Software is a fad. It will go away!