EEVblog
2 HN recommenders · recommended in 3 months, 2014–2019
1:02:29 · 370K views · Dec 10, 2013
Dave Jones builds the Evil Mad Scientist discrete-component 555 timer kit, then tests it and explains the internal circuitry of the 555 at transistor level. He finishes with scope waveforms.
Recommended as a deep, hands-on explanation of how a 555 timer works inside.
3 comments from Hacker News
I totally agree with you. There is a deeper problem I think across the board, whether it is electronics books or programming tutorials, mechanical engineering, etc. For example, no one teaches you the way you see in this particular segment of an old EEVBlog episode [1]. Please watch this clip as Dave dives deep into how a simple 555 chip works at the transistor level, breaking down into modules and explaining how each module works. What we need is a book that does the following: Break down REAL circuits from the wild, explain each module in isolation, then explain how it fits into the larger system. No one does this, not in my 15 years of experience in engineering. It is the same everywhere regardless of the subject, teaching is difficult thing to master. 3Blue1Brown is a rare exception, a unicorn of a guy. Richard Feynman's physics lectures are also an example. Programming books are littered with content pages that list: 1. Variables, 2. Loops, 3. Conditionals, 4. Strings, 5. Functions, 6. Objects,..I am already asleep. YAWN. This is a wrong way to teach people how to program . I couldn't emphasize it enough. Most people won't remember what all these things are and they'll lose interest as they grind through this mindless mess of syntax that they have never seen before. Instead programming should be taught by building a goal to automate something. Start out by hard coding everything, then introduce variables. Add functions to make your code modular. Then introduce objects, e
Don't miss the #555 Episode of EEVBlog where Dave Jones solders this kit and talks a lot about how the 555 works its history: this video
> You could have an open replacement for e.g. the 555 There is already a kit [1] for a 555-like circuit (I think Dave [2] says there's some reason it can't be used in place of an actual 555) made of discrete components. But there's no indication that it's Open Hardware, though. :-( [1] [LINK] [2] this video