How to overcome the despair of having crunched the numbers? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Artlav
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 04:08:14 pm
content: One day you come up with a neat idea.You do the math and simulate, and it sounds even better.You look up the parts, run the tests, find the cheapest of what works, and it looks more than doable.Anticipating the result, you start to crunch the numbers.A thousand dollars for the PCBs...A little under a thousand dollars worth of analog parts......Several thousand dollars for the signal processing parts.........Don't even want to count the digital parts by this point, even though they should be cheap.Desperation.It can't be done, it can't!...Now what?

author: Artlav
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 04:27:57 pm
content: Eh, if it was something to make a profit from, then there won't be time left for despair.But when it's a one-off art project for your own fun...

author: Delta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 07:31:07 pm
content: Take it as an expensive way to learn that you should always actually build something before shelling out any money.I understand that simulations are the way forward, and that breadboards are seen as a bit rough, but STICK SOME PARTS TOGETHER RATHER THAN TRUST LTSPICE!

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 07:37:03 pm
content: Quote from: Artlav on October 07, 2015, 04:27:57 pmYou sell it on forehand to an art collector for the amount of money you can make two one for him one for yourself.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 07:37:27 pm
content: What is that you want to build for personal enjoyment that cost thousands $ in PCBs and even more in parts?

author: krivx
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 08:17:02 pm
content: Quote from: Bud on October 07, 2015, 07:37:27 pmYeah I'm having trouble picturing the $1000 PCB that has no economic value. The thread feels like you're fishing anyway, spill it

author: German_EE
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 08:49:11 pm
content: My home made ham radio transceiver has cost me about 3000 Euro to build and I'm still not happy with it, for the same price I could have bought a commercial rig and sat there in front of the plastic panel turning knobs.Not a chanceI enjoy building stuff.

author: Artlav
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2015, 09:14:39 pm
content: Quote from: Delta on October 07, 2015, 07:31:07 pmFortunately, i haven't bought anything yet in any noticeable quantity.Quote from: krivx on October 07, 2015, 08:17:02 pm4 layer board, 25.6x25.6 cm, 20 of them.They are $30 apiece, with $200-something tooling cost and $60-something shipping, which adds up to a lot.I can halve the price if i manage to fit everything in two layers, which i haven't contemplated yet.Quote from: krivx on October 07, 2015, 08:17:02 pmNot exactly, more like "didn't check if the brain was in gear before posting" kind of thread.Without going into too many details, contemplate this question:What if you couldseesound?Here is some tone generators of different pitch flapping around 3 meters away from a 51.2x51.2 cm microphone array.Guess what would cost so much...

author: Galenbo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 08, 2015, 12:35:58 am
content: Quote from: Artlav on October 07, 2015, 04:27:57 pmSo what? Just do it.Other people start building a racecar for 3000 euro, and end up spending 30.000

author: SteveLy
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 08, 2015, 06:43:38 am
content: Sound/audio visualisation can and has been done in vast number of different ways from super cheap to super expensive. Research what others have done and if you still reckon you have an original idea worth exploring implement it in a way that's compatible with your budget constraints.