Tag: electronics

State of Electronics – Getting Started

My friend Jon Oxer (Freetronics) contributed to a short film by Karl Moller (State of Electronics) about how different people (including well knowns such as Dick Smith) first became interested in electronics. Beautifully done, it’s a worthwhile watch.

Jon also writes about his first electronics experience:

When I was in primary school, we all went on a visit to a local community radio station somewhere around Northcote. They let each of us speak on the radio for a moment, which was very exciting for a little kid!

However, the really significant thing was that one of the staff found out I was interested in electronics so he drew the circuit diagram of a crystal receiver on a scrap of paper for me to take home with me. I later scrounged up the various parts required to assemble it, and spent hours listening to stations such as 3RPH.

It blew my mind that something as simple as a crystal set could receive radio signals without even needing a battery, so it would just sit there playing the sound 24/7 and never go flat. It was like having magical powers to cast a spell on an inanimate object and make it do something interesting.

Young Driven Innovator

Kelvin Doe in Sierra Leone. View his story:

I used to hack around with electronics when I was a teen, yes FM transmitters too, but the stuff that Kelvin does is pretty amazing. He clearly has an intrinsic feel for how things work and how he can fit together what he has to make something his community needs.

And I think it’s an awesome example of both learning, as well as on how innovation really works. Innovation is not driven by lots of money, and big corporations. Innovation happens when someone sees a problem, and figures out a (new) solution using the limited resources as their disposal.

Certainly, having some resources can help. But “infinite resources” don’t help good ideas bubble up magically. It’s often a degree of scarcity that makes the idea spark happen!

Finally, it’s a good example of how much young kids can do. It makes no sense for kids to never have touched a soldering iron, and possibly get to use one some time during university (if they go there). What a waste.

There are so many cool projects out there to get started with, and local groups that facilitate this learning and exploration! For instance Gold Coast TechSpace, founded by Steve Dalton and others, does exactly that. Check it out!