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2021-01-18 3:43 pm
I'm digging back into electronics and spending a lot of time watching YouTube videos. DBW is certainly one of my favorite and Bill does an incredible job on his explanations. Where most of the YouTube videos fall short, to me, is in the area of practical examples.
Many great videos explain a component and even build an example circuit to show you how they behave, usually with LED's, motors, serial monitors, etc. This is great and the perfect way that I learn, but I always seem to want a more practical example. Not that we need to build something more practical. I'm thinking mostly discussion.
For example, I was watching a video on another channel that was explaining a Decade Counter IC. The video did a great job of explaining how they work and hooked up a circuit with a 555 timer to drive the Decade Counter. It even went so far as to show how to add transistors so you can run strands of Christmas lights with high current using the Decade Counter to create a chasing circuit. But after all that I was left wondering what was the reason someone designed the Decade Counter? Surely not to create chasing lights, but maybe so? It would be interesting to know how they are used in industrial/"practical" use.
Another one was the video on DBW and elsewhere explaining Inductors. The videos all show the same circuit with a source, a light and an inductor in parallel. They all explain perfectly how the light comes on until the inductor settles and then the light goes out because electrons have a path of least resistance. Then when the source is turned off, the light glows again as the inductor now settles back and then the light goes out. But none told me why I would want a circuit that would come on when I hit the switch, then go out and then come back on when I turned the switch off before going back out!
Now I'm not hating on all the videos. Bill and others to an amazing job in their explanations. I'm just often wanting a little more info on where these bits and bots would be or are used.
Again, I'm not picking on Bill! It is just that Bill has given us this great platform to voice our opinions, so here's where the opinions are going to land.
Thanks for all you do, Bill! You have provided many hours of enjoyment and I look forward to many more.
Sid reacted
2021-01-18 7:34 pm
Welcome to this forum @dotnetcoderdfw.
I admit, I am with you in this "needing some more" at least in terms of what and how of those components. But having been on the internet for years and watching too many learn to do videos on YouTube as well, I somewhere feel that today, most of the people are interested in getting their things working - and do not bother much about the what and how.
Sorry to say (my be just because of my clients or anything else), in the work scenario, the same things tend to happen (again, at least with me).
The practical aspect is that if one tries to incorporate too much on a video, many start disliking the video - it happens on many of those DIY videos as well. Even here on the forum, I think I read about people needing but then not needing too much info or content on the videos.
There was a question/poll running here - https://forum.dronebotworkshop.com/content-poll/beginners-level-material-your-opinion-please/#post-14335
I would request you to visit that thread as well (at least in this context).
But having the above said, I would love to go with your suggestion of including "more" at least in terms of basics.
Life is exploring and learning