Poll - Did You Increase Your Knowledge of Flyback Transformers?

I did not join competition but even research when considering joining learnt me a lot.

I did learn a lot. This challenge also helped me clear quite a few misconceptions and showed me there's still a lot to learn about flybacks

Over the weekend, I was able to relax and see the result of my project: the light box and play with it a lot. I'm still amazed that I achieved something like that. Working on programs with tight deadlines really pushes you to bring out the best in you. It's not a lot increase in knowledge; It's more like moving from uncertainty to clarity.

I didnt know how dumb I really was on flyback transformers until this competition. Thanks for the participants and sponsors. I learned alot and realize there still is alot more to learn. 

I certainly learnt a lot and I've still got a way to go. This challenge also exposed me to using other components in different ways and I was exposed to different measurement and diagnostic techniques. In fact it was the ability to measure, diagnose and then knowing what and how to fix particular problems was the key part of it all.

I learned a lot from following along.

It was very useful! I really enjoyed seeing the content from this challenge.

Although it certainly lived up to its name and was challenging, it was great to see that all the contestants that stuck with it did achieve results, and even from any missteps along the way, there was a lot of knowledge gained for all of us.

It was a non-trivial challenge for sure. I wonder if some people did attempt but then silently gave up. Which is a shame, because even if they struggled, that makes for interesting blogs, and allows everyone to contribute ideas. But we can't contribute if there is zero content. A failed attempt is a result too, and it can be post-mortem'd, which is a fun exercise for not just the project creator, but also probably just as much for the nosey Waldorfs and Statlers among us. As a famous author suggested, "If something is worth doing, it's worth doing wrong".

If I can make an observation for other similar type of design challenges in the future... I felt it would have helped me immensely if some core components (e.g. diodes, mosfets, resistors, capacitors etc.) were included in the pack to get you started with a basic reference design. Having a BoM together with a reference design helps too.

The purpose of this is to help you first and foremost validate that everything is working and then it helps you compare/contrast a working design with any other design ideas you may have built. Without this reference design built it is quite difficult to get started if you have not done this before as you have no baseline reference components to work from. Otherwise you spend a very long time seeking out basic components and having to test them before moving on (quite of few of my first choices proved to be poor ones and then I had to spend more time searching again and then waiting a week of so for another order to arrive etc). Basically poor search parameters lead to poor component choice etc. which then leads to delay.

You're right. I think the kit should have been expanded. I should have thought deeper and longer about what might be needed. This one was kind of new for me, too. I learned from the participants. I think for the next one, I'll ask everybody a month into the challenge what do they feel they could use. If it is board level components, we usually have good inventory and could get them out to everyone quickly. A reference design would have been helpful as well. I have to address that. Good point.

I remember you made a generous offer to complete the kits with additional components. I think none of us take advantage of it, perhaps due to lack of confidence in our applications:

How Can You Experiment with Flyback Transformers - Some Thoughts and Ideas