Project14 | Quick Update on Upcoming Competitions + What Would You Like To See Happen In Project14?

Be careful, it has feature creep, you might find yourself picking up more...

This is so true. I'm yet to buy the hand-on-course, but I currently own both the second and third edition, plus the x-chapters.

read it first, before buying the collateral.

100%. The "main" book alone has enough material to be busy learning for a long, long time

My first job, I'd peek at the other engineers bookshelves. AoE was on several shelves (including a first edition!) and that was my first encounter with it. Another great book I noticed on shelves was "RF Circuit Design" by Chris Bowick (it was an RF firm). That's written in simple language like AoE too (but a lot thinner). After peeking at that, I purchased that book too, and still refer to it.

I love reading books on electronics, despite having a bit of a collection already. I'll take a look at that one, as I don't have anything RF-flavored yet. Thanks for the recommendation ~!

I think build with transistors can be a good project14 topic. 

Totally agree, I definitely want to find project themes, prompts etc that appeal to new members and all experience levels.

robogary said:

Maybe a project without an IC, just transistors or using discrete "legacy" ICs 555s, 741, LS gates, HT8950, PT2399, MSGEQ7, hex drivers, no IIC...etc. Sounds kinda fun

rsjawale24 said:

I think build with transistors

It can be difficult for the (community) team to understand how to proposition competitions like this. Not everyone has the technical background and understanding to translate it into something that advertises well and explains what we expect from people who enter the competition. There's also hesitancy because not many people come forward saying they want this kind of thing. (To me the numbers say otherwise as to what people search and look for, but those people that talk loudest are the 'makers' that prefer drop-in solutions rather than the 'designers' who are into 'make your own' solutions).

When it comes to proposing these ideas, a little step further into help with these concepts can go a long way to supporting what people like yourselves want to do.

This is similar to design challenges where a few have mentioned wanting a more 'low-level design' challenge.

"Back to Basics"

Create a project that  helps demonstrate a specific concept in an educational or creative way.

Could perhaps link in with 'The Learning Circuit' or 'DC to Daylight' episodes to allow just about anyone to participate.