Mrs. Penny's Driving School - Electronics Class - Sponsored by Hackaday and DMS

Electronics
#1

The name is a bit misleading, or maybe a lot misleading but this IS an electronics class. The class is designed for anyone with little to no knowledge about electronics design. The premise is this: We will go step by step from idea to hardware in your hand, pretty simple right?

Our first project will be a custom micro-controller development board (custom Arduino clone). We will start with a single part number and learn the basics of using a datasheet and how to find the relevant information for our application. We will use EAGLE to design the schematic and PCB, we will order boards from a fab, parts from a distributor, and assemble and test them in class.

If you want to sign up for this class you can do so on Eventbrite, or if you want more information you can check out the hackaday.io project page. There is a $10 fee per class that will be used for food and beverages during our 6 hour class as well as go towards the purchase of our hardware when the time comes.

Let me know if you have any other questions about the class(es) and I look forward to seeing you there!

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#2

Brandon,

I just signed up for the class. I’m looking forward to the project. I’m a newby at electronics but I"m interested in exactly the project steps you’ve outlined. Thanks for offering the class.

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#3

I bought a couple of tickets to support the effort. If I don’t end up attending I will raffle them off for free. Thanks @Brandon_Dunson

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#4

That’s a great idea Ken, thanks for the support!

#5

This sounds like a great class that would be right up my alley, but unfortunately I have a wedding to attend that day. I hope it’s a success, and that it’s offered again!

#6

If everything goes as planned it will be a monthly recurring class. In fact we won’t finish the course in one class meeting since part of the process is sourcing PCBs and components from distributors.

#7

Very interesting. I may have to sign up, in no small part for the practice designing circuit boards, which has been a real problem for me up to now.

#8

Putting the “cross” in cross-promotion.

https://talk.dallasmakerspace.org/t/class-for-acid-etching-your-own-pcb-boards-any-interest/8426/18

Not sure which will come first, since a date for the aforementioned hasn’t been chosen yet.

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#10

Brandon, please accept my apologies for having to leave the class. Unfortunately, I neglected to bring my magnifying specs to class and I was not able to see the parts closely enough to assemble the PCB. I appreciate very much you teaching the class and I’ll definitely sign up for future classes.

Thanks for the pizza and drinks, too. Tell Hackaday and Atmel many thanks for supporting DMS and your classes.

#11

No worries, I completely understand. Thanks for the feedback and let me know how the assembly goes.

#12

Thanks Brandon, for the interesting chats at TE. Passing you today in the hall, I did not realize this class was in motion. I’ll track the event to be in attendance moving forward. :pushpin: (While growing older, a nice refresher Is always a good thing.) Thanks again, hope to see you and the class members soon. Be safe and stay tuned…

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#13

@Brandon_Dunson

I want to thank you for taking what is cleary an extraordinary ammount of your personal time to prepare the materials needed for this class and coordinate all of the ancillary services.

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#14

@Brandon_Dunson I want to thank you, too. I know the amount of work it takes to teach a simple class and your class was not simple. Your knowledge of design and hands on teaching was excellent. I look forward to future classes.

As you mentioned yesterday, you probably designed a bigger project than could easily be done in a couple of six hour classes. I learned a great deal about Eagle, however, so for me it was worth it. I even came home and showed my son how cool Eagle is.

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#15

Thanks @coloneldan, I’m glad you got something out of it.