Electrical Engineering

Andres

00:09

Hi :) Any active engineer ?

David Kessner

@Andres Yes?

Kortuk

01:29

@Andres Careful, that @DavidKessner guy is kinda sneaky.

JGord

02:03

WHAT IS GOING ONNNNNN

Andres

Sorry i was not in the computer :)

How are you people ? I am 18 years old at first year of electronic engineering :)

PD: sorry for my English if you see horrible mistakes :)

David Kessner

02:31

Looks like Tony is back again.

Go get him @W5VO! :)

W5VO

@DavidKessner Which one do you want me to get?

lol

David Kessner

How many times have I told U

1

W5VO

hehe... I got a laugh out of that one

David Kessner

@W5VO Yeah, but he is not a stable guy. I think someone needs to do some investigation and at least figure out what city the guy is in. He is the kind of person who would physically stalk a user here (or a mod) and cause problems for them.

W5VO

@DavidKessner I can't discuss that unfortunately

David Kessner

02:40

@W5VO Yeah, I understand. I'm just wanting to raise that flag and say that I hope someone with the power/authority is looking into it.

W5VO

@DavidKessner he does know how to use chat. Even suspended (or stuck with a puppet account at 1 rep) he can still see the transcript

David Kessner

@W5VO You don't have to tell me anything, in private or in chat. In fact, I wouldn't want you to. Just stay safe.

Kortuk

12:20

@DavidKessner :)~

@DavidKessner I think the old tired bored and frustrated retired guy is just spending his hours the best way he can.

I have a feeling he is the kind of engineer I butt heads with, thinks he knows everything but is, in fact, an idiot.

And feels a constant need to prove himself by taking the things he knows and instead of teaching those tricks he makes them sound magical.

W5VO

morning @Kortuk

Kortuk

@W5VO Morning mate!

Kortuk

13:30

@NiQAlasT Allo mate.

David Kessner

@Kortuk I'm confused on who exactly you are talking about (but I'm not sure it matters since your comment applies to all of them).

I mean: ...all of us...

Kortuk

@DavidKessner Tony Stewart being the primary person I am speaking about here, I feel like a number of other "problem" users may be that way somewhat because of how they are on the internet and we could find common ground.

I am a pretty easy going engineer as long as technical logic backs your engineering decisions. Not tony stewart non-sense.

David Kessner

@Kortuk At least he's stuck in Canada. Maybe we could get him on the U.S. no fly list! <jk>

@Kortuk When will you find out about your interview?

Kortuk

@DavidKessner Today I think.

I am not super hopeful. We will see

It has turned into a pretty big political thing because of changes in management when the position was originally mine with a no-compete.

David Kessner

@Kortuk And what is the new position?

Kortuk

13:42

@DavidKessner Site Technical Manager.

saad

14:19

William Bates = Tony, again?

Kortuk

@saad Maybe, moderators secrets, but you are correct, he is not giving up.

saad

@Kortuk Ah ok. Good luck today, by the way!

SimpleCoder

@saad: It's definitely him. I've just flagged one of his answers.

Morning @Kortuk! Any word on getting an IP ban on TS?

Kortuk

@SimpleCoder As some have hinted at, an IPban wont help, his ISP changes his IP regularly.

SimpleCoder

14:34

Ah,, that complicates things...

Kortuk

@SimpleCoder Yes, downvoting works every time though, and when we delete you get rep back.

David Kessner

@Kortuk But when do we get flagged for serial-downvoting?

Kortuk

@DavidKessner You are correct ,dont just follow him around downvoting only him, vote for others on that question and the question inbetween.

Review everything involved at once and the vote script is probably not a threat, it will not flag you though, it just annuls downvotes once a night.

David Kessner

@Kortuk Thanks. Good to know.

SimpleCoder

The worst part about him (TS) is that he believes it is his duty to "correct" (ahem) the content on the entire site: electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/37899/…

Kortuk

14:53

@SimpleCoder He just considers his suspension a sign of some great injustice.

saad

Certainly looks that way. I don't understand why he doesn't give up.

Kortuk

@saad Neither do I. We have offered him a compromise to cut it out, but he is just in his little world.

David Kessner

Heh heh... Russel thinks he can actually change TS.

I'm referring to comments on TS's answer here: electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/37899/…

I don't think I can actually change my wife-- and she very occasionally listens to me!

JGord

15:55

What do you call a bug when it's in a schematic/board layout instead of in code?

SimpleCoder

An expensive mistake? :)

JGord

nice. but seriously

David Kessner

@JGord It's still a bug.

JGord

Really? I found a bug on my board?

That sounds aweful

SimpleCoder

"I found a bug in my design"

Sounds right

David Kessner

16:03

@SimpleCoder I found a bug on my coworkers board. Sounds even more right! :)

SimpleCoder

@DavidKessner Sounds good to me!

jippie

16:37

hey @guys

SimpleCoder

Hello @jippie!

jippie

@SimpleCoder :)

markrages

we're hiring: sram.com/company/jobs/electrical-engineer

The Photon

17:03

@markrages A job for someone who likes long bike rides. That is about as far from anywhere as I've ever heard of an ee job being.

markrages

It's pretty nice out here.

The Photon

Haven't been in that neighborhood since I was like 8. But gorgeous scenery to be sure....Not sure if I'd be too into the winters though. Or the annual bike rally.

markrages

rally just finished, still a few stragglers riding around here.

JGord

@markrages sorry, cant deal with weather. also not qualified.

David Kessner

17:22

"A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool." --The Real William Shakespeare. Ironic.

The Photon

@DavidKessner The Bard got a 400-year lead on Dunning and Kruger.

David Kessner

@ThePhoton So true! So true...

jippie

@DavidKessner i always think i'm a fool, so that makes me a wise guy or a wise ass?

The Photon

17:39

@jippie "Wise guy" and "wise ass" mean essentially the same thing. Even if you meant to say "wise man", it's entirely possible to be both.

jippie

@ThePhoton hmm ...

SimpleCoder

17:59

Has anyone been working on any interesting projects recently?

JGord

18:10

@SimpleCoder Not that I can share =(

Ell

hi guys

@SimpleCoder I am about to embark on my electrical engineering journey by making an RC car :D

SimpleCoder

@JGord :(

Ell

using a radio transmitter that plugs into your smart phone

SimpleCoder

@Ell Nice! Are you building the car from kit or from separately purchased parts?

The hardware itself, that is.

Ell

Separately purchased parts :) It's not just me though, it's funded by my friend who has received a £300 annual engineering scholarship thing

It's not just fund for electrical engineering, its anything engineering related, I am focusing on the electronics, him on the physical side

We are thinking a simple rear wheel fixed axel driven thing with a servo for steering, nice and simple

SimpleCoder

18:15

@Ell Cool, good luck!

Ell

Thank you :) I will need it :P

Kortuk

@JGord Bug is more common, but a design flaw I have heard also.

Ell

Hmm I need to find out the voltage/current my HTC Sensation will provide in the mini-jack audo thing

JGord

@Kortuk Ugh, you can tell I've been working on board layout too much when I couldn't see what this msg was in reply to, so I started scrolling down on mouse wheel.................... -_-

zoom out! hah

Ell

How can I check what voltage I get from my phone without damaging it? As in, if i still a voltmeter from an audio pin to ground, it will fry, won't it/

Kortuk

18:30

@JGord haha, how did zoom work?

@Ell Voltmeter is almost never dangerous to use, it should show up as infinite resistance(or close to as far as you are concerned)

Ell

So I should be okay using a voltmeter?

I just don't want to destroy my £300 phone :L

I suppose I should test it on somthing else :P

SimpleCoder

@Ell However, I don't think you'll get an accurate reading since the output of the jack is analog. The voltage fluctuates as the audio changes.

The Photon

@Kortuk But you (usually) can't just stick both probes into an audio jack.

Kortuk

@markrages My wife is training hard for her tri coming up. She loves biking!

Ell

Well what I want to do (essentially) is turn my phone into a walkie talkie

Kortuk

18:32

@ThePhoton A man can. Ask Tony.

JGord

@ThePhoton unscrew the little plastic caps...

Ell

drive something like this (uk.farnell.com/aurel/tx-mid-3v/module-transmitter-434mhz-am-3v/…) with the audio out plug

Kortuk

@Ell The photon is right here, you cant just fit them both.

SimpleCoder

You could use something like this: sparkfun.com/products/10159 to get at the jack outputs

Or if it's 3.5mm splice one of these: sparkfun.com/products/8566

The Photon

@Kortuk But I'm from California.

Ell

18:34

@Kortuk what do you mean?

Kortuk

yesterday, by David Kessner

@W5VO California is the Granola State: Full of nuts, flakes, and fruits.

@ThePhoton Which are you?

@Ell your multimeter will not fit both probes in the audio jack.

SimpleCoder

@Ell I think he means, you can't physically fit your probes into the tiny jack opening

Ell

ohh right

The Photon

I'm guessing I'm a flake, since I'm chatting here instead of working.

SimpleCoder

@Ell Better yet, if you have a crappy pair of headphones you don't want anymore, just splice the cable and then you can get at the wires.

Ell

18:36

@SimpleCoder right okay :)

but the voltage will fluctuate because its an audio signal, right?

Maybe I need to power the trasmitter with a battery and just use the audio input of the phone then

Kortuk

@ThePhoton Haha, its okay, I am from texas, you have probably heard the full meta jacket joke.

@Ell That sounds more accurate.

Ell

Right okay

SimpleCoder

@Ell Right. My knowledge of electronics is too primitive to know what the range is, though.

... Coincidence? electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/37926/…

Line level

Line level is the specified strength of an audio signal used to transmit analog sound between audio components such as CD and DVD players, TVs, audio amplifiers, and mixing consoles. As opposed to line level, there are weaker audio signals, such as those from microphones and instrument pickups, and stronger signals, such as those used to drive headphones and loudspeakers. The strength of these various signals depends on the output voltage of the source device, along with its output impedance. Overview Consumer electronic devices concerned with audio (for example Sound cards) often ha...

The Photon

@Kortuk I was at a wedding over the weekend with some Texans and some Alaskans. The Alaskans had to tell the Texan if he didn't stop bragging, they'd split Alaska in half and make Texas the third biggest state.

Ell

@SimpleCoder Yeah was just looking at this :)

JGord

18:41

@ThePhoton hahaha owned.

Kortuk

@ThePhoton That is pretty funny, you could bulldoze half of Alaska and not get a single complaint.

Ell

I'll just use a coin battery I think

anyway I'm off karting

see you guys later :)

SimpleCoder

@Ell Cya!

@all Does TS remind anyone else of Ducky from NCIS? google.com/…

David Kessner

19:15

@SimpleCoder I never watched that show, but the pics are a little scary.

SimpleCoder

@DavidKessner: Haha. I did a double-take the first time he added his profile picture.

jippie

hey @guys, did I miss anything good today?

David Kessner

@jippie Nothing yet. Just the usual.

We were waiting for you to liven things up.

jippie

@DavidKessner oh I have a story, let me finish reading an answer

@DavidKessner I bought a similar hat like this one:

turns out that when I wear it, one of my cats completely freaks out.

David Kessner

19:34

@jippie As it should be, I think.

jippie

he starts to hisssss at me, show me his teeth

David Kessner

Does your cat just really want to play with those strings hanging down?

jippie

@DavidKessner well, mine is a bit nicer, but I can't find an exact image

@DavidKessner no, he is definitely scared like hell for it

i think he knows it is made out of kitty leather

David Kessner

We have a dog that is scared of the floor. Actually, it's my wifes dog. I don't claim him.

@jippie Kitty leather? Where did you get it? I want one!

SimpleCoder

@DavidKessner I take it you don't like cats?

jippie

19:37

@DavidKessner megastore around the corner :)

David Kessner

@SimpleCoder I like them just fine. Broiled with a little garlic and lemon! Ok, just kidding. But I don't like them much.

SimpleCoder

@DavidKessner "just kidding". So a different cooking preparation then? :)

David Kessner

@SimpleCoder Hey, whatever works! :)

SimpleCoder

@DavidKessner The great thing about frying kitten cutlets is that if you drop one, it will always land seasoning side up.

2

David Kessner

@SimpleCoder Too funny! LOL

SimpleCoder

19:42

@DavidKessner Many people don't like my humor, but you know what they say: There are many ways to skin a c... Ok I'll stop.

I actually do like cats.

David Kessner

@SimpleCoder It shows!

SimpleCoder

;)

David Kessner

I told my wife and kids that I will only allow new pets in the house if they are the edible variety. Pigs, chickens, ducks, etc.

SimpleCoder

Lol.

Gotta grill.

Ell

hi guys :)

jippie

19:50

@SimpleCoder seasoning side ?

SimpleCoder

@jippie * seasoned side up

jippie

@SimpleCoder what does it mean?

SimpleCoder

@jippie Alluding to the fact that when cats fall, they can usually right themselves in midair to land standing up.

:)

jippie

@SimpleCoder I need a dictionary.

SimpleCoder

Sorry, which word?

jippie

19:52

Alluding

not native english

SimpleCoder

Alluding -> referring

jippie

but I have google translate

W5VO

@jippie ever notice that when toast falls off the table, it lands 'buttered side down'?

Ell

seasoning?

SimpleCoder

@Ell chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/5779207#5779207 :)

Ell

19:53

right :D

jippie

@W5VO i never use butter

SimpleCoder

@jippie Ha! I prefer Nutella personally

W5VO

And some things don't respond well to being shorted

Ell

you said a voltmeter was unlikely to damage something, how about an ammeter?

jippie

@SimpleCoder the 15 liter jar?

SimpleCoder

19:54

@jippie When I can find it. Usually I get the tiny rip-off jar from the supermarket

jippie

@W5VO usually one of my cats eat off the cheese before I see the chance of dropping my sandwich

@Ell you can damage things with an ammeter.

not just by throwing it

Ell

Right okay, if not enough resistance?

jippie

@Ell you can effectively short circuit things

W5VO

And some things don't respond well to being shorted

Ell

which can damage stuff o.O

jippie

19:57

@Ell most things will survive. Only the really expensive things or the things that are hard to find will blow ;o)

Ell

haha

jippie

and 'hard to find' includes caused by shops closed on sundays

@ell when you hover over a message someone typed (like this one) a small arrow appears. If you click that arrow, then the person that typed it gets notified and it makes discussions easier to follow by coloring it.

Ell

@jippie right yeah :) sorry

jippie

@Ell no problem, I had to learn it too (and still forget every now and then)

Ell

@jippie I have no excuse, I use the c++ room over on stack overflow frequently :l

@jippie how would I go abouts finding how much current my phone can provide without damaging it?

jippie

20:02

@Ell they've allowed a chat there too?

Ell

yeah :) chat is on every stack exchange chat I beleive

W5VO

@jippie Yeah, but it's obfuscated and heavily typed.

man... I am just failing at chat today

Ell

haha

jippie

@Ell not sure what you mean, why would a phone provide current? in contrast to using it?

Ell

Oh wait never mind, I just remembered I don't need to know!

SimpleCoder

20:04

@W5VO Haha. Hopefully Boost will be making improvements to chat soon.

Ell

or maybe I do. I don't know. One second :L

David Kessner

Geez. Now I have Tony Stewart (a.k.a. ezypeazy) suggesting stupid edits to my answer. His edits are basically, but in different words, calling me an idiot.

At least he never has enough rep to do an edit unsupervised.

SimpleCoder

@Kortuk: FYI, Tony (ezypeazy) is calling you out: electronics.stackexchange.com/users/11527/ezypeazy (check website)

jippie

@DavidKessner it's hard not to make a smart ass remark here ;o)

SimpleCoder

Not surprisingly, he didn't actually register the domain

jippie

20:10

@SimpleCoder did you change the comma to a dot to check?

SimpleCoder

@jippie Yes

jippie

@SimpleCoder just checking ;o)

Ell

hmm right. When using an RF AM transmitter, for the TX pin, does the voltage change for data or the current? I would know the answer a year ago but now I have forgotten everything and am utterly confused :L

SimpleCoder

@jippie He misspelled Kortuk too :)

jippie

so why do you think he (m/f) is referring to @Kortuk?

SimpleCoder

20:12

@jippie Because he has an axe to grind

David Kessner

@SimpleCoder Yeah, his dig would make more sense if he spelled it correctly.

jippie

What are those URL's he's using, are they safe to visit?

David Kessner

@Kortuk And TS is vandalizing your somewhat good name here too: electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/37890/…

SimpleCoder

This guy is a total tool.

David Kessner

@SimpleCoder Yeah, in a different "answer" he was talking smack about "mods to pretend to be Americans". Kinda ironic for a Canadian to say that.

SimpleCoder

20:18

@DavidKessner: Agreed. And I don't know where gets the impression that @Kortuk is Turkish...

David Kessner

@SimpleCoder Or Muslim. Or an Anarchist. Or anything else TS tries to say.

dext0rb

holy balls! what a Tony Stewart!

W5VO

Because he turned "Kor Tuk" into "Kor TuRk"

no joke

SimpleCoder

@W5VO HAHA

David Kessner

And I fear that it'll get worse before it gets better.

At least more annoying.

dext0rb

20:21

Is it not possible to block his entire IP subnet? He told me I was ignorant because he didn't think I knew about dynamic IPs. LOL

SimpleCoder

@W5VO: What could even be done to stop him? He'll be registering new accounts everyday

@dext0rb He's behind an ISP that changes IPs from time to time

So IP ban won't work

dext0rb

Isn't his ISP allotted a block of IPs though? block his whole ISP. sucks for any other members though....

jippie

@SimpleCoder There are smart ways to block a user that knows about dynamic IP

SimpleCoder

@dext0rb Yeah, but if he's behind a huge ISP then it would be a problem.

jippie

complaining to the ISP is one of them, but it requires building a log

David Kessner

20:23

There are Canadian Cyberbullying laws that might apply.

dext0rb

i just find it mind blowing this old dude is being such a chode on an engineering forum. isn't this type of behavior reserved for fanboy argument in mobile phone or automobile forums?

SimpleCoder

@jippie I hope so.

W5VO

@DavidKessner @Kortuk Quick! Move to Canada and become a Canadian citizen! IT'S THE ONLY WAY!!!

jippie

@DavidKessner ISP's generally don't like abuse mails anyway

Ell

I'll be off now guys, talk tomorrow :)

SimpleCoder

20:24

@W5VO Let's start a donation

jippie

enjoy @Ell

SimpleCoder

@Ell: See ya later!

@W5VO Aren't you so glad you became a mod in the middle of this :)

jippie

@SimpleCoder I know I don't regret not been the chosen one ;o)

@W5VO can we get this stupid website erased from the profile (or the whole profile).

you know which one I'm typing about

SimpleCoder

@jippie I'll Ask-a-mod and ping Kortuk

W5VO

@jippie done

jippie

20:35

thnx

SimpleCoder

@W5VO Damn! Just pinged him.

dext0rb

im about to register supremeturkindisguise.com. then i can charge Mr. Tony Stewart for every subdomain he wants. dext0rb.supremeturkindisguise.com KORTEK(???).supremeturkindisguise.com. I'll be as rich as he is insane.

SimpleCoder

@dext0rb DO IT DO IT DO IT

@W5VO Thank you.

dext0rb

hahaha

David Kessner

@SimpleCoder I hope @Kortuk likes Molson!

jippie

20:41

;o)

/me grabs his dictionary again

W5VO

@jippie cheap Canadian beer

jippie

ah the canadian budweiser

David Kessner

@jippie Canadian Coors. Molson bought or merged with Coors.

jippie

@DavidKessner we use it as tap water in europe

David Kessner

@jippie Maybe to wash a dog...

jippie

20:51

@DavidKessner sorry, my mistake, we use it to flush the toilet. The poor animal :(

David Kessner

@jippie Ha! But quite accurate, too.

jippie

@W5VO the profile is cleaned up

thnx

David Kessner

21:11

@dext0rb An IP-wide block wouldn't be forever. Just long enough for him to loose interest in this site.

jippie

@DavidKessner IP blocks can be seriously large and potentially block many users. You don't want that

David Kessner

@jippie Maybe. Maybe not. It all depends on the range of the IP addresses that are blocked. It might be possible to figure out in advance if any other existing users would be impacted by such a block. Of course I would not suggest such a block if any existing users are effected (except for one).

jippie

@DavidKessner now you're getting in my line of work ;o)

David Kessner

@jippie Years ago I worked for a company that made wide-area-networking equipment. I hated it, so I went to work for a pro-audio company. Now I do... Networking... Oh well. It's still much more interesting than WAN stuff.

jippie

I don't know the exact IP, and therefore I don't know the IP block. Mind you that IP blocks aren't always 256 or 65536 addresses in size ;o)

@DavidKessner ok, I'll shut up

(again)

(like last weekend)

;o)

SimpleCoder

21:20

@DavidKessner Networked audio?

David Kessner

Yes, networked audio.

W5VO

@jippie not too crazy about Duvel. Not exactly my preference

jippie

@DavidKessner audio over IP, over ethernet? Best solutions I saw were audio (and video) over ATM

David Kessner

On a conf call now for about 30-ish min.

SimpleCoder

@DavidKessner Ah-HA! Conference calls use networked audio! Now he's taunting us! :)

jippie

21:21

@W5VO I'm on Rochefort 8 tonight

signing off for tonight guys

way past bed time again

David Kessner

21:57

@SimpleCoder Yes. Networked audio.

@jippie ATM is not used anymore.

Our networked audio solutions are giving us 1024 audio channels on a single network, uncompressed, 24 bit, 48 KHz, with super low latencys (for a network).

Ethernet. Layer 3.

jippie

22:19

@DavidKessner dedicated

network?

with ToS

David Kessner

@jippie Mostly dedicated. We can play some games with the Ethernet switch to put non-audio data on the same wires.

jippie

way past my bed time @DavidKessner, I really shoudl go

David Kessner

We use some QoS stuff, and IEEE-1588 network time protocol.

jippie

QoS, that's what I meant to type

ToS is different

I'm way too tired

/me is off

enjoy

David Kessner

@jippie Bye!

Transcript for

Electrical Engineering