I am sweating a little over the 4 electronics labs I have to finish by Wednesday. My trial version of Multisim expired and I was forced to purchase a license from National Instruments. Fortunately they have a limited license for active students that cost just under $50 including HST. As soon I've completed my writing assignments, I'll be building and testing virtual circuits on my ThinkPad.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
The final week of semester 1
This weekend I'll be very busy working on writing assignments and electronics labs. I have 2 formal reports to finish, one (partially written) on MPEG technology and another (not yet started) about the practical applications of our mathematics course. Both are due Monday. Also due are the informal midterm progress report (mostly written) and the Evertz tour report (almost finished).
I am sweating a little over the 4 electronics labs I have to finish by Wednesday. My trial version of Multisim expired and I was forced to purchase a license from National Instruments. Fortunately they have a limited license for active students that cost just under $50 including HST. As soon I've completed my writing assignments, I'll be building and testing virtual circuits on my ThinkPad.
I am sweating a little over the 4 electronics labs I have to finish by Wednesday. My trial version of Multisim expired and I was forced to purchase a license from National Instruments. Fortunately they have a limited license for active students that cost just under $50 including HST. As soon I've completed my writing assignments, I'll be building and testing virtual circuits on my ThinkPad.
The difference 4 months makes
Last night I decided to revisit a problem involving the antenna of my Redsun RP2100 PLL shortwave radio.
Earlier this year I made a rather hasty attempt to tighten the mounting mechanism of its telescopic antenna. It had been loose for some time, so I decided to remove it completely and reassemble it. For some reason (unknown to me at the time) the mounting screw would not go all the way in to the thread of the mount. The result was an even looser antenna that would crackle the audio any time it moved. The antenna itself didn't seem to make contact with the tuner circuitry, and I was forced to use external long-wire antennas as an alternative. This was more than inconvenient, because I was not able to receive stations as clearly as before, and long-wire antennas can be messy.
After months of substandard performance from this radio, I decided last night to revisit the problem. I removed the screws that hold the radio's plastic chassis together for the first time since its purchase in 2007. Once inside I was able to see 3 circuit boards with many resistors, IC's, capacitors, switches and potentiometers. 4 months ago, my eyes would have glossed over most of these components, and I wouldn't have given much thought to what they are, why they are there, or what they do. After nearly completing my first semester of the Broadcast Engineering Technology program, I can now name these components with a basic understanding of their function and purpose.
After further inspection I noticed a white wire soldered to the radio's antenna circuit at one end, and a circular metal terminal connection at the other end, hanging loose near the antenna mount. The terminal connection had a hole that matched the size of the screw that held the antenna mount together. At last I had identified my problem! When disassembling the antenna mount last spring, I had not replaced the antenna terminal wire next to the telescopic antenna mount before tightening the screw that held it all together. This resulted in 2 problems: 1) a terminal wire that only sometimes made contact with the antenna giving me poor reception and noisy audio on contact, and 2) an antenna mount that was physically loose because one of its pieces was missing. I reassembled the antenna mount correctly and tightened the screw until it was snug. Voila! I had a perfectly functioning radio once again!
Last night's minor radio repair made me aware of what the 25 volunteer hours required by our Community Connections course had given me. All those hours spent disassembling equipment and salvaging parts under Tim Rorabeck and CJLX had made me comfortable with taking apart electronic equipment, identifying its parts, and diagnosing problems without damaging the equipment. It also made me realize how ham-fisted my earlier attempt to fix this radio had been prior to my experience with the Broadcast Engineering Technology program at Loyalist College. I am looking forward to the skills and knowledge I will acquire in the following 4 months and beyond.
Earlier this year I made a rather hasty attempt to tighten the mounting mechanism of its telescopic antenna. It had been loose for some time, so I decided to remove it completely and reassemble it. For some reason (unknown to me at the time) the mounting screw would not go all the way in to the thread of the mount. The result was an even looser antenna that would crackle the audio any time it moved. The antenna itself didn't seem to make contact with the tuner circuitry, and I was forced to use external long-wire antennas as an alternative. This was more than inconvenient, because I was not able to receive stations as clearly as before, and long-wire antennas can be messy.
After months of substandard performance from this radio, I decided last night to revisit the problem. I removed the screws that hold the radio's plastic chassis together for the first time since its purchase in 2007. Once inside I was able to see 3 circuit boards with many resistors, IC's, capacitors, switches and potentiometers. 4 months ago, my eyes would have glossed over most of these components, and I wouldn't have given much thought to what they are, why they are there, or what they do. After nearly completing my first semester of the Broadcast Engineering Technology program, I can now name these components with a basic understanding of their function and purpose.
After further inspection I noticed a white wire soldered to the radio's antenna circuit at one end, and a circular metal terminal connection at the other end, hanging loose near the antenna mount. The terminal connection had a hole that matched the size of the screw that held the antenna mount together. At last I had identified my problem! When disassembling the antenna mount last spring, I had not replaced the antenna terminal wire next to the telescopic antenna mount before tightening the screw that held it all together. This resulted in 2 problems: 1) a terminal wire that only sometimes made contact with the antenna giving me poor reception and noisy audio on contact, and 2) an antenna mount that was physically loose because one of its pieces was missing. I reassembled the antenna mount correctly and tightened the screw until it was snug. Voila! I had a perfectly functioning radio once again!
Last night's minor radio repair made me aware of what the 25 volunteer hours required by our Community Connections course had given me. All those hours spent disassembling equipment and salvaging parts under Tim Rorabeck and CJLX had made me comfortable with taking apart electronic equipment, identifying its parts, and diagnosing problems without damaging the equipment. It also made me realize how ham-fisted my earlier attempt to fix this radio had been prior to my experience with the Broadcast Engineering Technology program at Loyalist College. I am looking forward to the skills and knowledge I will acquire in the following 4 months and beyond.
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