I’m pretty good at stressing myself out. Not for any particular reason; normally just because I find it’s more productive than watching TV. How, you ask?

Well, starting podcasts could be one. While they are exciting at the beginning, there is invariably some work that needs to be done. I’ll want to figure out how to get the recording setup to work or make the website more reliable or try and find some kind of funding for it. In the end, it’s driven by my desire to put my voice on the internet, but at the base of it all, there’s no reason I need to be doing this stuff.

I got the mill out of the box and bolted together. No calibration or leveling yet, but that will come in subsequent videos. Enjoy!

This video is showing all of the gear I purchased in preparation for getting my CNC mill up and running. This video shows just about everything except the mill, which will arrive tomorrow. Check out the links below to see all of the stuff I bought, in the event you’d like to purchase some or all of the same gear.

• Accessories and measurement devices
  • Vernier Calipers
  • Dial Indicator
  • Dial Indicator Magnetic Base
  • Feeler Gauges
  • Machinst Square Set
• Controller and Motors
  • Soigeneris STDR-4C Controller which contains:
    • Gecko G540
    • Warp9 USB Smooth Stepper
    • MeanWell power supplies
    • E-stop
  • 166 oz-in Stepper Motors
• Software
  • Mach3
  • CamBam
  • ViaCAD
• Mill
  • Taig 2019CR-ER bought from Carter Tools

Many thanks to everyone who helped me along so far! I really appreciate it, even though I can’t take everyone’s advice all at once. I hope things continue to get more exciting!

Other podcasts:

• Check out TheAmpHour.com sidebar to see other podcasts we like.

Hardware I use:

• The Audio Technica AT2020USB microphone.
• Dave uses the Samson C01U.
• I use a the Nady MPF-6 pop filter to block air getting to the microphone.
• I use the Samson SP01 shock mount to reduce vibration in the microphone.
• And I have the On Stage DS720 mic stand to hold the shock mount on my desk.
• When I’m out and about or need to record multiple people at once, I use the Zoom H1 handheld.
• While recording this video, I had my Olympus ME-15 lapel mic plugged into the H1, which was acting as a USB mic.
• If I’m in a pinch, I use the microphone on my Logitech 9000 USB WebCam

Software I use:

I often find myself worried about where my job might be in the future.

It’s not that I worry that my current job will evaporate overnight (though that is a possibility for any and all of us). But it’s more of a general concern, because globalization continues its march onward. In general, I find that globalization continues to be a thrilling enterprise because I see what changes it is made in my own life and my own career; electronics really have gotten more exciting since expanding to the worldwide marketplace. The trend is most often notice is the one of general consolidation of duties of an engineer. What this means from an analog electronics perspective, is that my job as an engineer is shrinking. Many of my favorite companies (analog electronics companies) continue to make highly integrated components that I love talking about. In fact, this is why I started ChipReport.TV. I saw it is a general trend that engineers are expected to know more and more about parts without; no allowance is given for being told about them…they just need to know. So I sought to be the one to tell engineers about the parts.

So I’ve continued to keep myself busy lately. I have a new project called ChipReport.tv. I’ll be reviewing the newest released parts so you don’t have to work so hard to find them.

Here’s the intro video:

And here’s the first installment!

Around here, I hope to do a site refresh soon, since this blog has gotten a little stale. I think I’d like to transition it to more of a traditional “home page” for all the things I’m working on. Comments welcome on any of the above.

No.

You just stop that right friggin now.

Yeah, I’m talkin’ to you, lawyer/investor/clueless people.

Well, if you’re a reader, go read this article from The Economist (my favorite magazine) before we proceed: http://www.economist.com/node/21554540/

The part about Google, Apple, Samsung and other handset manufacturers needing to quickly trade patents seems to make sense at first, right? But that’s not the concern. Those companies have lots of resources at their disposal and I think their rattling of their technology (light?) sabers is just bad policy; they should have figured out that stuff in private, not in courts.

Another website? What am I, switching out of electrical engineering and into IT?

Well…no.

This is the site for the podcast mentioned in the last post. We called the first episode, “Jumping Off” and the second episode is about “Feedback”. We hope you like it! Many more themes, discussions and guests are on the way in the coming months.

You can find it over at our new home, The Engineering Commons. Please consider subscribing so you can hear our shows as they are posted. Thanks for listening!

I’m not around here too much anymore. It’s not that I don’t have anything to say, it’s just that I have so many other places to say it. And I may have added another one.

As some you may know, I’m the co-host of an electronics podcast called The Amp Hour. It’s a lot of fun and our listeners run the gamut of hobbyists to professionals. Me and Dave Jones talk about circuits and related topics weekly.

I’ve looked at a lot of resumes for electronics positions, so I thought I’d share some of my opinions on what should or shouldn’t be on there. Nothing formatting specific, so much as how to get across your interest and passion in electronics. I used examples that are resumes meant for engineering internships, but a lot of the info can be generalized to anyone. Hope you enjoy the video!