Electro "Aha"! moment...

[cowboybob]

My first circuit:

I guess I was about 7 or 8. I wanted to make my own bedside lamp since my older sister had one.

I, sort of, understood how lightening worked. I knew the switch in my room turned on/off the overhead light. I knew you plugged in a "cord", with 2 wires in it, into an "outlet" to "hook up" electrical things. And I understood, if somewhat poorly, that the switch interrupted the "juice" (lightening like stuff). Good to go...

I found the parts I needed in the basement (aka Bomb shelter). When I went to hook it all up, the SPST switch threw me a curve: I had two wires each from the plug cord and two connections on the bulb holder. Four wires. But the switch only had two connections. It made sense to me that all I had to do was connect the two plug wires together and attach them to one connection of the switch. Same for the bulb holder wires on the other switch connection. Done!

Plugged in the cord. BIG noise and my first magic smoke. Later, assured my Dad I had no idea why a "fuse" (new word) was "blown" (a new concept).

Didn't dare ask my Dad for help. So, spent a good deal of time with the Encyclopedia Britannica (1950's Google, for our younger members) and found my mistake. Have not made that particular mistake again. Plenty of others, but not that one .

 

[DerStrom8]

One of my first designs (not sure exactly how long ago this was, but I was <10 years old) was to drive a car ignition coil directly off rectified mains (with a transistor switched by a square wave to interrupt it). It's a good thing I never put it together. I apparently never got rid of my hand-drawn circuit and I just came across it a few years ago while visiting my parents. It scared me

 

[strantor]

I'm a "younger member" I suppose (30 y/o), and I grew up with an Encyclopedia Britannica too. It may have been the '90s, but may as well have been the '50s; I think our encyclopedia set was that old, and we didn't have the money for a computer when I was that age. My first electrical project luckily was not with mains. I was the same age; maybe 7 y/o and made a switchboard for my "surround sound" for my room. I had an old boombox from the resale shop with detachable speakers. I found some more speakers out in the trash down the street. I drilled a bunch of holes in a 2X4 (yeah, I had access to power tools with no supervision) and hammered wire-wrapped washers into them. Then I connected the speakers to the washers via wire-wrapped deck screws. You would "turn on" a speaker by plugging its screw into the hole and contacting the washer.

Not sure why I considered this a "useful feature" but my wooden switchboard was proudly displayed above my boombox and I would demonstrate for anybody who came over. This is how I learned the concept of a "circuit" and how to open it.

My next project was a desk fan, and that one involved mains. It was a blower I removed from a smokeless ash tray and installed in a small wooden strawberry crate. I covered the exposed conductors with steel mesh for "safety." I still have that fan, found it a couple years ago while helping my mother move, and I keep it as a memento.

 

[strantor]

I remember when we got a computer and got the Encyclopedia Britannica on CD(s). It was so awesome! You just had to type in what you wanted to read about, and it would come up (after putting in the correct CD). If you were lucky, your topic might include some multimedia. My favorite was the didgeridoo. It actually had an audio file an I listened to it every time I got on the computer.

EDIT: actually I just remembered it wasn't Encyclopedia Britannica, it was MS Encarta

 

[DerStrom8]

I'm a "younger member" I suppose (30 y/o), and I grew up with an Encyclopedia Britannica too. It may have been the '90s, but may as well have been the '50s; I think our encyclopedia set was that old, and we didn't have the money for a computer when I was that age.

I was in a similar situation, except I had the World Book Encyclopedia (no idea what edition, but my family got it used I think). Most of my learning was through trial and (sometimes dangerous) error.

 

[large_ghostman]

Funny thing is I am trying to collect a complete set of Encyclopedia Britannica. but they cost a fortune!! So far only have 2 books out of the 30 odd books in the set lol.

Encyclopedia Britannica is the new wikipedia... In fact Wikipedia is so LAST YEAR . As for mistake what mistakes?.

Of course the recent one trying to get three phase from two phase and touching the wires while the motor spun dosnt count. Or the three fires I had in the house doing chemistry. And we can leave out the various smoke from component experiments I have conducted in the name of science .