Author Topic: Contest for Beginners  (Read 23289 times)

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Online xrunnerTopic starter

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Contest for Beginners
« on: June 19, 2017, 04:47:33 pm »
*** 2017 Beginner Contest For Existing and New Members ***



This is a contest to win free test equipment.

First Prize: Rigol DS1074Z Digital Oscilloscope (contributed by member bson)

Second Prize: GW Instek GDM-8135 benchtop DMM and C&C 150U 150 MHz frequency Counter

Since they are being offered free and shipped it free, it's only for residents of the continental Unites States. The instruments will come with power cords and test leads, the scope with four probes.

This is not a random drawing, so you can't just say "I'm Joe Bob in for the prizes!" You will have to convince the judges that you are a) really a beginner and b) need these items (i.e. you are not the kinfolk of a millionaire who would not need help procuring equipment); millionaires can be beginners but they don't need free equipment. How do you convince us? That is your problem to solve. The judges will be myself (xrunner) and bitseeker.

Rules:

A. Brand new members are welcome; however, to express a bare minimum level of interest in the topics on this forum, please respond or ask a pertinent question to three (3) posts anywhere on this forum. Take your time there's no rush. I'm looking for at least a sentence or so in your post - not just a single word like "cool". Then once you have that history you can work on your entry here.

B. You must be able to post a picture of your work area showing where the equipment will be used and also of the equipment in use when you get it. Any additional pictures you feel are helpful also.

C. Convince us you are a beginner that needs and can make good use of this free equipment. Already having a DMM, frequency counter, or other equipment doesn't eliminate your chances of winning since beginners generally have some tools of the trade in order to become a beginner. On the other hand, having an entire lab outfitted does make one wonder about your definition of "beginner". Pictures will help. The only way to compete is to write up a post that is better than all the others at convincing the judges and submitting it to this thread. It's OK to post that you are going to enter, and converse with other members in the thread, but you still have to make a contest entry post in this thread - the entire explanation of why you think you should win. It's up to you what text/pics are in that entry post. Write a story about your electronics interest, make a technical presentation as to your beginner project, take a look at the last contest, see who won and what they said -

2015 Contest

Here's what's different than last time: since you can edit posts on this forum, I will allow other EEVBlog members participation to freely criticize your entry post (be nice guys/gals) and offer suggestions for improvement. There are many people here who are experts in electronics and work in industry, and know what a good proposal is. If you deem these suggestions helpful, you can edit/improve your entry. In fact, if you know any experts on the forum, I would encourage you to get their input on your entry. You don't have to discuss the details in the thread - you can PM any member and get help privately. The judges will not provide this assistance.

The purpose of this editing is so you can learn better writing at the same time (if you don't already have that skill). I want you to have the best chance to win, and getting feedback from these members is the best way to help you. This is like trying to convince your Boss that you have a project that would be really beneficial to the company. If your co-workers can help you that's fine. But you only get one chance with the Boss.

Simply edit your original post if you want to take any advice. It's very simple, but if you don't know how there will be plenty of members that can assist you. You can do this editing until I close the contest. At that time I will ask all the contestants to quote their edited entry and post it again. What that does is place them all at the end of the thread, so the judges can easily read them all. The judges will then review all the entries for a final determination.

So to summarize: The judges reserve the right to choose the final winners. I will ship free to the Unites States. I will keep track now until I get 12 entry posts (meaning 12 contestants) or 2 weeks have passed since the start of the contest. After I see 12 entry posts (not simply a post saying you want to compete) or two weeks, the contest will be closed to new entries. Your entry post is the full explanation with any helpful pictures of why you need the equipment, quoted to place it at the end of the thread only when I announce its time to do so. Then the judges will make their determination.

First Prize



Second prize






Disclaimer:

No warranties expressed or implied, equipment provided as-is and is not being offered as suitable for any specific application, all responsibility for use and operation of supplied equipment remains the sole responsibility of the winner, calibration not guaranteed, EEVBlog forum members cannot be held responsible for any injury or loss related to misuse of supplied equipment. By accepting this equipment you agree to these terms.

« Last Edit: June 29, 2017, 01:26:49 am by xrunner »
I told my friends I could teach them to be funny, but they all just laughed at me.
 
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Offline SeanB

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Re: Contest for Beginners
« Reply #1 on: June 19, 2017, 05:59:21 pm »
Thank you for doing this, will be interesting to see how it turns out. Not entering, just want to encourage you in doing this.
 
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Offline kalel

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Re: Contest for Beginners
« Reply #2 on: June 19, 2017, 07:06:49 pm »
Thank you for doing this, will be interesting to see how it turns out. Not entering, just want to encourage you in doing this.

I agree fully. I believe it is a great idea and should be maintained as possible (surely shipping these things isn't cheap, but then at least it's not international). :)
 

Online xrunnerTopic starter

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Re: Contest for Beginners
« Reply #3 on: June 21, 2017, 11:52:04 am »
*** UPDATE ***

An exciting change to the contest has been made. Member bson has contributed a Rigol DS1074Z oscilloscope as a prize!



The contest now has a first and second prize, meaning two winners will be awarded prizes. Please see updated rules for more information on this and time periods for the contest.

Thanks,

xrunner
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Offline buck converter

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Re: Contest for Beginners
« Reply #4 on: June 21, 2017, 10:02:02 pm »
Definitely will enter :) :-+
Just me and my scope.
 
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Online xrunnerTopic starter

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Re: Contest for Beginners
« Reply #5 on: June 22, 2017, 12:40:48 am »
I told my friends I could teach them to be funny, but they all just laughed at me.
 

Offline rigol52

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Re: Contest for Beginners
« Reply #6 on: June 22, 2017, 03:29:17 am »
Good move
and
good luck to all contributors.
 

Offline Seaofdep

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Re: Contest for Beginners
« Reply #7 on: June 22, 2017, 10:22:20 am »
I am at the beginning of this stepping stone, I have much to learn and many tools to gather, ill make mistakes and grow stronger from them. I am a complete newbie and cant wait to soak up everything possible and experience each step as I move up. As for now ill make the best of what I have!
   It has been a rough year so my  work space is tiny and  I don't have many tools just a few  and of course  a cheap soldering iron and a small radio shack pocket multi-meter with a battery that cost more than the iron and multi-meter. I have one major project (fleamarket ptz camera  ) I am taking it slow, step by step as I research and read up as much as I can. Although  I have many projects that I can’t wait to do ill take my time as I gather the right tools and know exactly what to do and always following safety guidelines. Uh I don't own very much as of recent, having to rebuild from the ground up I learned to appreciate all & has opened my eyes. I have always been a bit of a lone wolf getting lost in books or creating some art, and with added equipment i can get lost as i jump from rail to rail lol, and winning will be  by far the highlight of the year not only will I appreciate the help on growing my work space with much needed tools for my journey ill pay it forward! Thanks to a buddy of mine,here is the new addition to the micro work station(pic). After seeing all the other work stations i was hesitant to post mine. I Dont have and feel like i cant even say i'm a beginner lol but i'm slowly gathering as i go and excited to learn and grow with my workstation .
       Even if I don't win, The kindness shown by those contributing the contest is a win in itself, Thank you and  Thank you for the opportunity. good luck.
 
« Last Edit: June 30, 2017, 08:03:31 pm by Seaofdep »
 

Offline bitseeker

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Re: Contest for Beginners
« Reply #8 on: June 22, 2017, 08:42:53 pm »
Does that mean you're submitting an entry, Seaofdep?
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Offline bitseeker

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Re: Contest for Beginners
« Reply #9 on: June 22, 2017, 08:49:33 pm »
Definitely will enter :) :-+

Looking forward to your entry, buck.
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Offline ThangNguyen

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Re: Contest for Beginners
« Reply #10 on: June 22, 2017, 09:18:34 pm »
May I ask if there is a specific place to post the entry or just in beginner?
 

Online tautech

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Re: Contest for Beginners
« Reply #11 on: June 22, 2017, 09:28:10 pm »
May I ask if there is a specific place to post the entry or just in beginner?
Here.

Read the rules carefully and submit your argument for qualification to the competition. Edit as required until close of competition.

Sell yourself in your submission as the most worthy recipient of the prizes.  ;)
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Offline bitseeker

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Re: Contest for Beginners
« Reply #12 on: June 23, 2017, 02:55:24 am »
Correct. All submissions must be posted in this thread. We won't be looking for them elsewhere.
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Offline Seaofdep

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Re: Contest for Beginners
« Reply #13 on: June 23, 2017, 07:32:23 am »
yes it does im about to edit my post now :-+ :D
 

Offline Bendba

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Re: Contest for Beginners
« Reply #14 on: June 23, 2017, 11:08:36 am »
Nice,

We should do the same here in Australia.
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Online xrunnerTopic starter

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Re: Contest for Beginners
« Reply #15 on: June 23, 2017, 11:53:11 am »
Nice, We should do the same here in Australia.

Good Idea!  :popcorn:

Looks like we have two members competing so far -

buck converter

Seaofdep


On a forum this size ... there must be a lot of beginners waiting in the wings. Come on in the water's fine.  8)
« Last Edit: June 23, 2017, 11:56:01 am by xrunner »
I told my friends I could teach them to be funny, but they all just laughed at me.
 

Offline Bendba

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Re: Contest for Beginners
« Reply #16 on: June 23, 2017, 12:14:50 pm »
Though I'm not able to supply the prize, I'd be more than happy to contribute to the purchase.
Stop dreaming your life, start leaving your dreams.
 
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Online xrunnerTopic starter

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Re: Contest for Beginners
« Reply #17 on: June 24, 2017, 02:34:53 am »
Though I'm not able to supply the prize, I'd be more than happy to contribute to the purchase.

Thank you for the offer but it's not necessary.  :-+
I told my friends I could teach them to be funny, but they all just laughed at me.
 

Offline bitseeker

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Re: Contest for Beginners
« Reply #18 on: June 24, 2017, 02:42:08 am »
I took Bendba's comment to be with regard to contributing for the purchase of prize(s) to start a similar contest in Australia. It would be a good thing to have such a giveaway there since there are often posts from folks down under lamenting the scarcity of good deals on test equipment.
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Offline Bendba

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Re: Contest for Beginners
« Reply #19 on: June 24, 2017, 04:01:31 am »
Hi,

I was indeed referring to a contest in Australia.

Being quite a novice myself, I know how hard it is to get started. So I would be happy to help someone else getting there too.

{Here is my story:}

I only bought my first scope (15MHz 2 channel CRT, Leader LBO-505) a few month ago. It made a huge difference.

Luckily I found it on ebay for $50, cost me $40 in fuel to go pick it up bit I didn't want to risk shipping it.

I always wanted to know and experiment more about electronics when I was a kid but between not having any money and my mother thinking that I didn't have a future in that domain, it didn't happen, had to wait until I was 25 to get into it again, finally buy a decent multimeter and a cheap soldering iron.

Took me another two years to finally know enough to start wisely spending some money on a scope, a couple of breadboard and some new components (or last week go totally crazy and spend $500 on two pallets of ancient test gears)

It'll be a while still before I buy a brand new digital scope or bench DMM (need a bench first anyway, rather than squatting the dining table)

All in all, getting hands on the gears that make the difference between frustratingly burning up energy in protect that go nowhere and actually make some progress isn't always easy or affordable for everyone. So I'm hoping that that sort of prize for a young hobbyist might make a significant difference.

{End of the story}
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Online xrunnerTopic starter

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Re: Contest for Beginners
« Reply #20 on: June 25, 2017, 01:51:31 pm »
Do we not have any more beginners wishing to enter the contest?  :-//

I might have to open it up to new registrations if we can't get a few more that are already registered.
I told my friends I could teach them to be funny, but they all just laughed at me.
 

Offline buck converter

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Re: Contest for Beginners
« Reply #21 on: June 25, 2017, 02:22:13 pm »
Do we not have any more beginners wishing to enter the contest?  :-//

I might have to open it up to new registrations if we can't get a few more that are already registered.

Good idea, my friend is getting into electronics, does not even have DMM :-DMM and wants one but has not registered for this forum!
Just me and my scope.
 

Offline IonizedGears

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Re: Contest for Beginners
« Reply #22 on: June 25, 2017, 08:48:43 pm »
I'm not a beginner so I won't be entering (even though the free gear is enticing!) and I love the idea of giving a lucky newbie a solid entry into the field but what's to stop a person from falsifying a third world setup to increase their chances?

I suppose the best thing would be to have many entries to choose from and hopefully picking the best fit for the contest.

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Offline kalel

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Re: Contest for Beginners
« Reply #23 on: June 25, 2017, 09:15:35 pm »
Do we not have any more beginners wishing to enter the contest?  :-//

I might have to open it up to new registrations if we can't get a few more that are already registered.

If an international contest was possible, surely there would be many more applications. But of course shipping would be crazy for anything heavy (perhaps at maximum, a DMM in minimal packaging or some lightweight USB gear at most), and as the contestants would fairly need to pay shipping and customs, most likely it wouldn't be an affordable contest to participate in (I can imagine costs for a scope). So both physical weight, size and reward value would then need to be small also, so that the customs expenses are not crazy either. It would help if some business/company was sponsoring such competitions (as they can probably take care of customs costs and might have good international shipping methods).
Even with US only, I'm surprised there aren't more entries already with the scope being featured! Perhaps you should add something like Scope reward in the title? Not a serious suggestion, but... it might work.

Anyway, thanks for making the contest and good luck to everyone.

Edit:
Quote
I'm not a beginner so I won't be entering (even though the free gear is enticing!) and I love the idea of giving a lucky newbie a solid entry into the field but what's to stop a person from falsifying a third world setup to increase their chances?

Unfortunately, the more expensive the gear offered, the more likely it is to get some questionable entries. Perhaps it would help if you check the users posts made prior to the competition. User posts might not show if the person is wealthy or not, but based on their questions, interests, and answers to other posts, you could probably figure out if they are a beginner or not. While it might be possible that among many entries, someone may falsify things after the competition begins (or is announced), how likely is it that a person will create an account prior to the competition, and then in their posts falsify being a newbie without expensive gears or means to afford it?
« Last Edit: June 25, 2017, 09:24:17 pm by kalel »
 

Online xrunnerTopic starter

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Re: Contest for Beginners
« Reply #24 on: June 25, 2017, 11:22:20 pm »
If an international contest was possible, surely there would be many more applications. But of course shipping would be crazy for anything heavy (perhaps at maximum, a DMM in minimal packaging or some lightweight USB gear at most), and as the contestants would fairly need to pay shipping and customs, most likely it wouldn't be an affordable contest to participate in (I can imagine costs for a scope).

If I allow the whole planet to enter then I would have to ship to the winner no matter what country they live in. Being a ham operator and having quite a few years experience sending and receiving paper QSL cards from many countries, I just don't trust mailing letters to some of them, not to mention valuable box of goodies.  :(

Good idea, my friend is getting into electronics, does not even have DMM :-DMM and wants one but has not registered for this forum!

I don't even see a post yet that even rises to the minimum standard for a winner.

But if he wants to enter then let's go for it. I'm officially opening the contest to newly registered members.


*** CONTEST OPEN TO NEW MEMBERS ***


Here's one thing though and I'll mod the rules also in the opening post -

To express a bare minimum level of interest in the topics on this forum, please respond or ask a pertinent question to three (3) posts anywhere on this forum. Take your time there's no rush. I'm looking for at least a sentence or so in your post - not just a single word like "cool". Then once you have that history you can work on your entry here.  :-+

But the same rules apply. If you can't convince the judges you can't win.
I told my friends I could teach them to be funny, but they all just laughed at me.
 
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