I'll have access to an university's electronics lab! What to do? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: timofonic
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 23, 2015, 08:18:47 pm
content: Hello.As you maybe know I have learning disabilities partially becauseI'm ADHD. I lack a proper home lab to make my homework and the one at school is a total crap, no incomes and even my DMM is starting to fail.So I used a bit of social engineering to get some free tutoring support (limited, because he's bad at theory) and this time a lab. I talked with the chief of electronics technology at the university of my town, he and his teenage son is very probably ADD/ADHD-PI and asked me about it.I'll have access to it two times per week.I'm going to do my homework there when needed, but I would like to do exercises that may help me to learn and understand electronics theory. People with ADHD learns a lot better with Active Learning than every other way, I'm very bad at studying theory and need to motivate because these days I feel very unmotivated.I did see tons of precision bench DMMs, Rigol and Tektronix Scopes, frequency generators,precision power supplies, computers and some stuff I don't remember. I'm not sure if there's soldering stations, I hope so.What to do there that helps me to learn the basics? What funny stuff to do too that helps me to motivate?Please put the schematics if you can!Best regards.

author: JackP
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 23, 2015, 09:33:36 pm
content: Make yourself a set of extremely basic tools to take home. I'm talking logic probe, continuity sensor and polarity checker, they are so easy to make, fun to try and stuff in a pen case and very surprisingly useful.

author: timofonic
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 23, 2015, 09:39:17 pm
content: Do you have some schematics/pcb and other recommendations? Preferably for Eagle, I yet not transitioned to KiCad.Thanks!

author: lapm
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 23, 2015, 09:57:08 pm
content: I would say cheap voltage reference to check your multimeter. Perhaps even simple constant current source to check current range as well..

author: timofonic
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 23, 2015, 10:32:38 pm
content: Quote from: lapm on April 23, 2015, 09:57:08 pmThanks!Can you publish schematics? Please...

author: jeroen79
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 23, 2015, 10:57:26 pm
content: I would definitely use this opportunity to make my own tools and calibrate them against the equipment in the lab.These could include references for voltage, current, resistance, frequency, etc.You can also make some plugins for your DMM like an amplifier for small voltages and currents (like the ucurrent).Also bring whatever equipment you have already and calibrate that as well.If you don't want to adjust anything inside then you can make simple tables that put a reading on the lab's equipment against a reading on your own equipment.Experiment with the lab's equipment.For example get a cheap oscilloscope probe and compare it's performance to that of the lab's probes. Or see how well your DMM measures AC at various frequencies.This shouldn't discourage you but give you more insight in what your equipment can and cannot do.And if you your course makes you build something in an exercise see if you can make a modified version.For example, if you get to make an oscillator at 1MHz try designing another for 10MHz, or make it a variable one.What are you studying?What branch of electronics interests you?You could go trough your books to see what experiments are in it and prepare them in advance.And you can go through the theoretical exercises and turn them into practical exercises to do in the lab.And since you mentioned social engineering, keep doing that.Leave things tidier than you find them, if you stay late help the lab-assistant with cleaning things up. That way they will be happy to have you around and you will get to use the lab longer.