Analog. Digital. Continuous. Discrete. Choices abound.

Well, not really.

In reality you will deal with both kinds of signals when working on just about any electronics these days. A simple example is in a switching regulator. These devices are meant to take input power from a wall plug or something providing a relatively constant voltage and then the regulator will ensure that the voltage is always the same when leaving. Internal to the circuit, a “digital” signal (on or off) determines when to let in incoming power go from the input to the output. The “digital” signal translates into an “analog” voltage at the output, hopefully the voltage you programmed.

I am not a perfectionist. I think of myself as too practical to be a perfectionist.

However, I find myself setting very high expectations for myself and I don’t feel I am alone. Generation Y has always been encouraged by parents and others every step of the way. We have been told we can do anything and more drastically, we can do everything. We have been multitasking since kindergarten and over-scheduled ever since. We played the most little-league sports, we took the private music lessons, we had the private language tutors, we were boy scouts. We had the most extra-curriculars on our college applications, we had the best grades we could, we took all of the AP classes and we applied to more colleges than we’d ever need to. We took the most engineering credits, studied as many hours as we could stand, we drank during the remaining hours and we graduated with as many minors as they let us. We had the most interviews as our schedules would allow, we got the most job offers, we had the biggest signing bonuses and we got the fanciest job. We expect the biggest promotions at work, the biggest pay raises, the best benefit packages and the best of everything.

I am very excited to announce that the Wurlitzer 200 is fixed and operational. I say Wurlitzer 200 instead of 200A because a nice chap emailed me and let me know that I actually had an earlier model. Either way, it works and it sounds delicious.

Really this post is to gloat a little and to post the sound samples I recorded with my friend Joe. He is a great piano player and shows off the awesomeness of the Wurly better than I ever could. I also wanted to lay out some future posts about the Wurlitzer that I plan to write:

Engineering parents don’t tell their kids to study engineering for lots of reasons. One of the biggest reasons is that they don’t understand what engineers do. There aren’t really any television shows that explain it. It’s not sexy enough for Hollywood. There really just isn’t much information to the general public unless they are looking for it. I know I didn’t have much access to this info before seeking it out. And I know how it feels to have people nicely shake their heads and smile when I explain what I do at parties.

In a down economy, there is always focus on low cost. Job cutting, project re-definition, scaling back expenses, finding new sources of parts, all of these actions can lead to lower costs and help businesses stay alive in crappy economic climates. I think that the average (electrical) engineer can’t but help to let this mentality creep into other parts of their lives. In fact, I think the best engineers enter the profession and excel with this mindset. This revelation about engineering penny pinchers may have been stumbled upon by myself after being accused of being overly-thrifty a time or two. I don’t mind it though; I think maintaining a mindset of low cost is good for my work life and my personal life.

“I wouldn’t suggest engineering as a career path for my child.”

So you’re an engineer. Maybe you have been for a long time and you have put up with a lot of grief. But still…Would you really tell your kid not to go into engineering?? Apparently 1 out of every 3 electrical/electronic engineering parents or so are. And while these numbers are better than the ridiculous ones I had first thought they were (more like 2 out of 3), they are better than the numbers coming from non-engineering parents (only 20% encourage their children to go into engineering, though it is likely ignorance). I can’t stand it. Why? Because it’s followed by stories about the US not having enough engineering talent. Then that story is followed by a story about H1B visas. Then THAT story is followed by a commentary about someone lamenting the situation with international workers. But it’s worst when I see it on message boards and comment sections and on blogs (see all the comments on the survey page and just about any other article on EDN or EETimes these days). Then I realize it’s not a statistic. It’s actually people telling their kids why they shouldn’t go into engineering.

A background

Switching regulator, buck converter, boost converter, SEPIC, flyback, push-pull, buck-boost… do you know what the heck these things are??? Because I sure didn’t when I was getting back into analog electronics. Now thanks to new interest in power efficient electronics, they are starting to come front and center on the electronics stage. Hopefully this article will give you a better understanding of what they are, what they do, where to use them and issues with noise.

Last month, I had a not-so-nice commenter remark that my last post on blogging keeping me going through a recession was a waste of time. He or she went on to remark that they didn’t have a job and they were obviously looking for some help. While I can’t say I condone their harsh tone and unnecessary crudeness (I know, I know, it’s the internet), I do empathize with their jobless situation.

Hi everyone,

I know there aren’t too many concerned blog citizens out there, but I just wanted to post to say I am taking the rest of the month off from writing to take care of personal stuff (mostly my house). I would highly suggest you leave any blog post ideas you would like to see when I get back on the “skribit” widget on the right side of the page. Alternately, you can vote on suggestions that are already there. I get weekly updates on which post ideas are popular and will use those to build up my post repertoire in order of popularity (most of the time). Thanks for reading, as always, and I look forward to continuing the conversation about analog electronics and renewable energy when I get back.

As you may have all noticed (or at least those that read here more often-ish), I have been posting less lately. Partly because I am fixing up a new house and partly because I have not felt very inspired. I think the recession is starting to get me down a little unfortunately. Worrying takes its toll as I’m sure many can attest to.  But fear not! I have some things I would like to reaffirm about why I enjoy blogging thus far and why I think it’s a good idea to keep going with the blog: