Any amateur engineers/technicians round here?

[Bryn]

I know the forum has a large amount of engineers and technicians, whether they are this for a hobby, volunteer in it or even for a living... or find themselves becoming any of these for a little while to fix something when nobody can?

For me, I certainly am and to be fair I'd avoid tinkering with electronics in case I muck things up or render something totally useless, yet my father worked with computers and electronics during the 80s and ran three computer shops where he'd offer the trade.

One recent example where I had a go at working with something was disassembling an over-the-bin paper shredder, only to resolve a paper jam that didn't work with its "Reverse" function. Got my magnetic screwdriver out, took one half of it off and carefully picked the bits of paper out and reattached it again. If anything, I would've modified it so that it can shred pieces of paper just a little but quicker... haha.

Although, there is a chance that I might work as a volunteer technician for a sound production company (out of four separate admin/IT volunteering roles I applied for recently) so we'll see how that pans out...

Just hope that I'm not the only amateur person with a screwdriver and a couple of tools handy, haha

[themadhippy]

volunteer technician for a sound production company

thanks for stealing  the bread from sevral good friends mouths.If its a company they should be paying you the going rate.

[Bryn]

If its a company they should be paying you the going rate.

No... I prefer to work out of the kindness of my heart and help out others, not for money. Plus I'm on benefits anyway (as I have a disability).

And to be a bit more specific, it's for a company that deals with "newspapers" for the blind, where I would record people reading them out, do the technical work with the audio files and then have them distributed as several USBs to its clients. I may not may not get the role, just depends how the interview goes which is next week.

[AndyC_772]

I think most of us have the opposite problem, especially if engineering is what we do for a living.

I still get people fully expecting me to fix their broken laptops (or any other technical things) just because they know it's something I can do, and the idea that I might in turn expect them to spend a corresponding amount of time washing my car or pruning my hedge doesn't seem to go down well. I don't believe this issue is uncommon.

[Squarewave]

volunteer technician for a sound production company

thanks for stealing  the bread from sevral good friends mouths.If its a company they should be paying you the going rate.

A lot of these volunteer roles if they were paying roles, wouldn't be paying enough to be the bread in peoples mouths, however they are often a great way for someone to learn a trade/area, then get the skills on top of what ever other qualifications they may have, to move onto a paying position.

[djsb]

Good luck with the interview next week. I still consider myself an enthusiastic amateur. I tend only to volunteer for work that REALLY interests me these days. Also, I have more than enough personal work projects on my back burner any way to keep me occupied.

[SteveThackery]

Me. 40 years ago I was an electronics bench technician for a couple of years. But since then I've been an electronics amateur. That includes being a software amateur as well.