Mastodawn

@gmc @retroscandinavian that (and the original video) was highly entertaining and informative! Thank you!

I also appreciate your explicitly anti-AI stance.

@fluidlogic @retroscandinavian Cool, thanks for the compliment, that really means a lot to me (I know, sounds like a cliche, but it really does).

@gmc @retroscandinavian you're welcome! It costs nothing to say "thank you". You (and other retrocomputing video makers) put in a huge amount of effort to share what you know and what you learn. I'm very grateful for that effort.

I knew the name COVOX, but I wasn't aware it was such a simple construction. I'm a beginner at practical electronics and I kinda hate how nearly every beginner electronics course is (a) aimed at kids and (b) throws in microcontrollers from day one. Learning how COVOX works via your clear explanation is a lightbulb moment for me. Thank you! I'm looking forward to building one!

@gmc @retroscandinavian ...oh and (c) that the canonical texts for electronics autodidacts are written by a creationist and global warming denier.

@fluidlogic @retroscandinavian Cool! And here I was that the whole covox thing was totally uninteresting to anyone and no-one would want to view it :)

I was thinking of doing a video 'how to use an oscilloscope' as well, having the same thought 'nah, who will be interested in that?' But I guess you would!

Maybe I should do a series of videos about the fundamentals of electronics as well. You know, 'this is the resistor; it has this and that property; here's how you can use it to do stuff' and then work our way up to capacitors, inductors, diodes, transistors, mosfets, logic gates, etc.. etc..

I love doing these videos. They both serve as motivation to get off my ass and tackle all those retro projects I have waiting, and every time I explain something it deepens my own understanding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaY47Qrfs0c

@gmc @retroscandinavian that sounds superb! Count me in. I'm at the stage of learning about commonly used components in electronics, but currently only have the vaguest of notions of what they're for in a given circuit. Your COVOX explanation makes it clear that capacitors iron out discontinuities in a signal, at the cost of retarding its responsiveness to change. Stuff like this is invaluable to a learner.

Oh yes, and learning how to use an oscilloscope is also very helpful. I'm lucky to have one; I was surprised to discover that it's not hard to use and the visibility it brings to understanding a live circuit is transformational. It's like live debugging for circuits.

Here's the video I found most helpful in getting started with an oscilloscope. It's very information dense, which is brilliant.

How to ACTUALLY Use an Oscilloscope (Beginner-Friendly Guide!)

YouTube

@gmc @retroscandinavian oh and what's the name of that analogue circuit builder page?

@fluidlogic @retroscandinavian Yeah, for many an oscilloscope seems intimidating with all the knobs and controls, but when you get down to it, it's really a relatively simple measuring device.

The circuit simulator is falstad.com/circuit/ - it's brilliant. It has a ton of example circuits as well and allows you to probe and experiment to your heart's contents.

@gmc @retroscandinavian brilliant, thank you.

@fluidlogic @retroscandinavian Heh, I just discovered that there's a stand-alone version of the simulator now as well. I was always worried that the site would at some point disappear and took mirrors with wget periodically, but the stand-alone version is even more brilliant!