Y'know, while I'm here, why don't I write an introduction post. This seems like a nice community...
So my name is Russell, I live in the US. Oregon, to be precise. I have been interested in electronics since I was seven years old and took apart an old phonograph (much longer ago than I'd like to admit), and it's always been a passion of mine - I can't count the number of electronic things I, umm, didn't turn on. But I never got any support and wasn't able to actually do anything with it. So, I ended up going into computers, and chalked myself up as a failure when it came to hardware. It's not that I wasn't intelligent about it, I just couldn't make the required conceptual leaps.
Until recently, when I found the Arduino (not an Atmel fanboy, just found something that worked for me) and started messing with a lightboard I had, ripping out the controller and making my own. I reverse engineered it, and actually succeeded (the lightboard works, and I even added a VFD display just for the heck of it and used a MAX232 to level set), and now I realize, hey, maybe I *can* do something with this. So I decided to start building out a lab and am picking up some equipment, and am trying to make up for lost time with all of the stuff I missed out on.
I kind of miss the old days - when all of the components where through hole and dicking with things like soldering, etc., were in some ways way easier. These days, I find myself kind of lost with things like SMD soldering/mounting, PCB design, etc. I really don't even know where to start. But Dave's blogs are helpful and at least give me a direction to start moving in. I hope to someday build some cool stuff. I'll probably never be an honest to $DEITY electronics engineer, but I guess I'll give it my best shot. Nice to meet you all.
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