Ok...with the fear of upsetting Nigel (Seems as though Ive been scaring some of the less than manly co-posters around here half to death) ...and all the other mythical gods...Im slapping on a pair of hip-waders, annd wading into the inner bowels of this inane quagmire.
I have NEVER used a software program to design circuit boards
-I have never had a problem resizing circuit boards that have been reproduced ANYWHERE including the web....simply by resizing the PCB in paint, or simply printing it out...then calculating the sizing needed by looking at the known pinouts on things like IC's, then adjusting the sizing on a photocopier.
-I have NEVER really had a problem finding INTERESTING projects on GOOGLE to build...as a matter of fact...my problem isnt finding them...its deciding on what one of 10,000,000 hits that I want to build that day.
I am ENTIRELY self-taught on electronics...have been building projects BY MYSELF since I was 5 years old, courtesy of my Radio Shack 150 in 1 kit. The only official education in electronics was 3 years I took in High school. Then we were told that we had to design a circuit, lay it out on protoboard, draft a schematic, make a PC board (using Letraset, and a sharpie), etch the board, , plate it, design a component overlay (we didnt have to print the overlay onto the board, as we had no way of doing it at the time)drill it, install all components, make the project work, install it in a case.
We had exactly 10 days to do all of this
..and there was no such thing as the internet. I remember building a race track, that used 3 lanes of LEDs that would race around the track, and ultimatly one of the leds would randomly win the race. I think that I used about 100 leds for the project, and that was when LEDS were about 1.00
each.or more...because they were new technology.
Yet somehow...with little electronics education, I seem able to download a circuit, or design it from scratch....design a PCB, and component overlay....BOTH USING MICROSOFT PAINT...nothing special, print it out, iron it onto a piece of copperclad board, etch it, drill it, and have a working project within a few hours.
Oh and for the people that wish to say Im bragging..Im not...I realise that practically every other member of this group can run circles around me in the design, layout, and building of a circuit...which is why I ask for help so frequently.
You are 17....you probibly have every computer program at your disposal to assist you....you have the endless resources of the internet...a well-trained teacher.....AND YOU SAY THAT YOU CANNOT FIND A CIRCUIT...OR A PCB LAYOUT FOR IT????????????
HOLY CRAP GUY...YOU HAVE GOT TO BE EITHER THE STUPIDIST GUY ON THE PLANET....OR THE LAZIEST.
I cant even fathom that yiou can write a 30 page essay on the circuit..and how it works either...if you cannot at least BEGIN to find a circuit....or were you expecting to have someone here do THAT for you AS WELL!
This guy is about the 5th guy lately on here that is taking a course, and wants us to give him a project, lay it out, help him explain it...and then ULTIMATLY BUILD IT. And NO...I dont think that its the schools fault...I think that its the lazy -assed students that simply want to pass....by putting the same amount of effort into this project, as they ultimatly do with every other aspect of their pityful lives. Im not scared about the future of mankind so much as Im scared that someday Ill have to be hooked up to a device, or put my life in the hands of equipment that this lazy little piece of **** has either designed, or is responsible to keep running.
Do us all a favour here:
-Spend a few hours on the internet looking up circuits
-spend a few hours thinking about its design and how it works
-spend a few hours designing a circuit board for it
-spend a few hours building it
-spend a few hours debugging it
-spend a few hours writing about your experience
THEN......IF YOU STILL DONT GET SOMETHING ABOUT THE PROJECT...START ASKING QUESTIONS
NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.
YOU MAY GET THE SAME SORT OF RESPONSE AS YOUN AHVE HERE WHEN YOU FINALLY ENTER THE WORKFORCE...AND ASK YOUR CO-WORKERS TO DO ALL YOUR WORK FOR YOU.