Critical thinking

[diagrammatiks]

test ->

build a tektronix scope from parts and chassis or

-> no forum posts for you.

[Steve Conner]

Or at least get an old broken one and fix it up.
scopeblog ŧ Tektronix 7603 mainframe repair

[imaradiostar]

I recently bought a Tek tube scope because I can fix it and it'll last.

My cousin was recently "let go" from a school that teaches recording tech because he doesn't have his bachelor's degree. He is THE ONLY teacher at the school that actually makes his living as a studio engineer. While the other guys were going to school for a bachelor's degree he was setting up sessions, prepping the console, patching up effects, repairing cables and mics, and generally practicing his craft. Somehow the system has deemed that he's less suitable to teach those very things than the ones with a degree.

I'm amazed at how little real-world electronics knowledge many electronics students have today. When I was in nashville I showed a schematic to a friend's friend that was about to graduate as an EE from Vanderbilt. I was hoping for critique of my idea and he couldn't even figure out what it did and how. That's a shame. I wonder if he'd spent 4 years building circuits if he'd have understood?

I'm valuable to my company because I've always been a tinkerer. I grew up in a machine shop and have built electronics circuits for music since I was 12. I worked on my own cars and was a mechanic for years. These "toy skills" of doing things I'm interested in have become practical usable things that make me useful. I'm so thankful that I'm a good troubleshooter- it has saved the day time and again and many spheres of life!

jamie

[diagrammatiks]

test 2.

recalibrate an m9 artillery directory by smell.

[g1]

Here's another example of stepping back to see the whole system, and checking that any assumptions are backed up by fact (or specs in this case).
Power amp was dropped off for repair, complaint Channel.B is weak. Fault was verified at the counter. Several techs looked at it and couldn't find anything bad in Ch.B, but clearly it was weaker than Ch.A.
It ended up on my bench and after much headscratching and frustration I discovered the real fault and repaired Channel A.

[Bill Moore]

Great thread! My hobby is electronics, but profession is fixing cars. We of course have to use electronics in current manufacture vehicles, but my knowledge of the basics helps me more than ever.
There are some good kids here, but the current troubleshooting involves scan tool info, and a TSB search. Intermittants require "critical thinking" and determining what in the system could cause the problem. Helped a kid last week with what turned out to be a short to ground from the throttle position sensor, after a short drive under high load. (The connector would soften, and short to an exhaust tube). The symptom of white smoke after the stall and attempted restart, should have tipped him to check out what could cause the system to overfuel.
Untill the boxes get smarter, we still need to know how to figure out the possibilities!

[R.G.]

Some things can only be learned by experience, not textbook. I'm fond of the down-to-basics test for whether you're ready to be a parent yet or not. My favorite section of the test was:

DRESSING TEST
Obtain one large, unhappy, live octopus. Stuff into a small net bag making sure that all arms stay inside.

And that last section, too.

Are You Ready To Be A Parent?

[J M Fahey]

Uuuummmhhh !!
*Very* American. (21st Century version; before the 60's it was the exact opposite).
Similar to:

The Argentine/LatinAmerican version which would be :
Are you ready to LOVE?
If YES, go ahead, everything else is minor matter.
If NOT: forget it, do something else.

Personal opinion, others may digress. Fine with me.

[Zipslack]

I recently bought a Tek tube scope because I can fix it and it'll last.

My cousin was recently "let go" from a school that teaches recording tech because he doesn't have his bachelor's degree. He is THE ONLY teacher at the school that actually makes his living as a studio engineer. While the other guys were going to school for a bachelor's degree he was setting up sessions, prepping the console, patching up effects, repairing cables and mics, and generally practicing his craft. Somehow the system has deemed that he's less suitable to teach those very things than the ones with a degree.

I'm amazed at how little real-world electronics knowledge many electronics students have today. When I was in nashville I showed a schematic to a friend's friend that was about to graduate as an EE from Vanderbilt. I was hoping for critique of my idea and he couldn't even figure out what it did and how. That's a shame. I wonder if he'd spent 4 years building circuits if he'd have understood?

I'm valuable to my company because I've always been a tinkerer. I grew up in a machine shop and have built electronics circuits for music since I was 12. I worked on my own cars and was a mechanic for years. These "toy skills" of doing things I'm interested in have become practical usable things that make me useful. I'm so thankful that I'm a good troubleshooter- it has saved the day time and again and many spheres of life!

jamie

This experience with the soon-to-be EE is eerily similar to why I dropped-out of Engineering School and went back to Community College to get my Electronics degree instead. I ran into too many Seniors that couldn't build or understand simple circuits. It made me think, "I'm racking-up thousands of dollars in student loans to NOT learn how to do what I want?" My epiphany moment - I realized my ACT score and GPA didn't pigeon-hole me into an academic route -- I could do what I really wanted to do and go the technical route.

I'm not a jack-of-all-trades, but I am pretty handy at fixing and building things. Skills that other people don't think twice about have helped me tremendously in my life, and I stress to my students - learn about everything; you never know when you'll need it. Did I have any need to know how to operate a bulldozer or replace a broken hydraulic line? No, but it sure came in handy when I was preparing land for my home. My job doesn't require me to know how to work on cars and trucks, but it's saved me thousands of dollars over the years. When the service center where I bought my camper couldn't figure out and fix a leak problem, I got some manuals and figured out how to pull the hot water heater assembly and found the problem myself and fixed it without having to pay them $600 for a new heater plus labor. Oddball knowledge and skills that sometimes come in handy later - that's why I'm a big proponent of critical thinking and amassing useless knowledge.

[Enzo]

Part of this is also having realisitic expectations. You can teach someone a thousand formulae, but if he doesn't know which one to apply, it will do him no good. SHow a guy how to play a guitar, that doesn;t make him talented. A lot of guys wash out of engineering programs. SOme get degrees and have no real ability to do engineering. SOme are great at it. Engineering schools are not vocational schools. Engineers and technicians are very different things. Neither is dishonorable, neither is "better." But different they are. An engineer with practical experience will have that added value. But I sure couldn;t sit down and design a DSL modem or a cell phone for all my decades of experience.

If a guy wants to work on car engines, then an automotive engineering degree is not probably what he needs. On the other hand, if he wants to design car engines, then changing mufflers at Tuffy for 5 years is not the way to get there either. The GM designer needs Mr.Goodwrench, and Mr.Goodwrench needs the GM designer.


I had a fresh out of school tech once, and I assigned him to overhaul a pinball machine. He asked me the proper adjustment spacing for the contact blades on the switches. I told him, "So that it works."

[imaradiostar]

This has been a good thread.

I should point out- I've had many teachers along the way (in Highschool in the 90's and currently in college) that are very clear about teaching problem solving rather than just "this is how you solve this kind of problem." They emphasize learning tools to solve problems rather than simply memorizing a formula for every circumstance. That's helpful in real world situations and a part of the bigger picture.

My physics professor is an old-timer that was in grade school in the 40's. I took his class because the new guy they hired to teach the class sucked so they brought him back. He's awesome, and again, he emphasizes problem solving skills rather than memorizing how to do each kind of problem.

Maybe I have an unrealistic perspective. My company does R&D for the Navy and we're generally tasked with solving problems so I work with a group of guys that are all geared toward that sort of thinking. I wish that mentality could easily be more widespread in the US.

My brother is 16 (he's half my age). It doesn't appear to me that he wants to do much of anything. At his age we barely had the internet and it wasn't the distraction that it is to him. I partially blame video games and the internet. As said above, it's also our national mentality. Following WWII we innovated like crazy and jobs were created in all kinds of areas. If we're not building things anymore then what ARE we doing? Pushing paper? Selling one another products from overseas? What has replaced the productivity of our nation?

jamie

[J M Fahey]

Following WWII we innovated like crazy and jobs were created in all kinds of areas. If we're not building things anymore then what ARE we doing? Pushing paper? Selling one another products from overseas? What has replaced the productivity of our nation?

Unfortunately, thatīs an accurate description of reality.
I guess Banks, Stock Exchange and Financial Companies, which have an *auxiliary* role helping Industry and Commerce work smoothly, by providing necessary capital and cash flow for them, have become an end in themselves, choking Economy and ultimately all of Society.
China is doing the opposite: their Government invests wisely into Industry and promotign Foreign Trade, and tightly checks that objectives are met.
No wonder they are growing so much.
I mean *real* growth, not *paper* growth.
It has nothing to do with Capitalism Vs Socialism or stuff like that, but on *where* do they focus their effort.
The USA did exactly the same from early 1800 to , say, 1960 or 1970.
Germany did the same from around 1860 until today.

EDIT: I recently read that in China, 8 out of 10 important Government officials are Engineers. Go figure.
In Argentina, 10 out of 10 are Lawyers. Donīt ask.
I guess in USA most are MBAs, Lawyers, or somewhat connected to Finance or Oil. Or both.

EDIT2: I forgot the occassional Action or Cowboy film actor.
That *sure* qualifies them for the job.

[hasserl]

I'm sure my story is like anyone else here. I had a pile of bike parts in my back yard. An actual bona fide pile. Maybe 80 cubic feet of parts. My brother (thirteen months younger) and I salvaged any bike we could scrounge. And we fixed a lot of other kids bikes. If one of our bikes was stolen we just went to the pile and built another one... Good old days.

Maybe it is tool curiosity. To this day, if I want to clear my head and relax, I'll grab an old VCR or something from the junk pile and strip it down to the tiniest parts.

I remember working on bikes, turning handlebars around, changing seats, removing fenders, fussing with brakes and shifters. I never got so far as to build one from a heap, though. When i was a kid, bikes were one-speed, you back pedalled to apply the brakes. Then one day I got what we universally called an "English Racer" bike. That was a bike with THREE, count 'em, THREE GEAR speeds. There were hand levers for the brakes. You pedal backwards and they spin freely, making a clicking sound. Very high tech for us back then.

Ahh, you guys are reminding me of my youth. Back in the late 60's motocross was in its infancy here in the states. As young boys we were fascinated with the machines, we ran dirt bikes out in the desert and local mountains when we could, and when we couldn't we rode our bicycles out in the hills on the north side of town. Our bikes back then were call Sting Rays, small frame bikes with "banana seats" and sissy bars, and mini ape hanger handle bars. Those were not very good for riding in the dirt. So we stripped the seats and sissy bars off the bikes, along with the chrome plated fenders and handlebars. We fitted the regular single seats off of old beach cruiser style bikes (they weren't called beach cruisers back then, they were just adult bikes), and we cut some small fenders out of sheet metal with tin snips (to keep some of the mud off our backs), and we took old moto-cross handlebars that had been discarded and we spread open the goosenecks so the bars would slide into place, then we couldn't install the bolts back because the motorcycle bars were wider then bicycle bars and the gooseneck clamp wouldn't close enough for the bolt holes to align, so because my dad had an arc welder at home that he taught me to use I welded the handlebars to the goosenecks for all the guys in the neighborhood. The welds looked like crap, but they mostly held. And we used those bikes to ride around the hills, even made some tracks and held races. Then I grew up, went to high school and was too old to do that kind of thing any more. But just a few years later what do I see, sanctioned BMX races being held, and BMX bicycles being sold at the bike stores, and guys actually making a lot of money riding them. Dang, we started that whole thing and other guys came along and cashed in on it.

[Chuck H]

Just sharing now...

My house is cold. I didn't understand why I was cold until I remembered a conversation with my wife yesterday. She said "It's nice out. We should turn down the thermostat and save some money on the bill." Now, "nice out" is a relative term. Where we are, this time of year, "nice out" means 46*F and the sun is out. I tried to explain to her that if she is cold when the house is 66*F when it's snowing outside that she will be cold when the house is 66* and sunny outside. I guess she didn't get it because she's out for the evening with her sister and the thermostat was set at 66*F.

I know this is more logic than critical thinking, but critical thinking can't happen without logic. So I guess that's a contribution to the thread. That quality has to exist before any forward motion is possible.

I'm reminded of something a friend of mine used to tell me. He said "Don't ever use logic when arguing with your woman. They take it as some sort of unfair trick."

[diagrammatiks]

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