The Amp Hour

By The Amp Hour (Chris Gammell and David L Jones)

The Amp Hour is a weekly conversation about electronics and the people who design them.... more

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How many episodes does The Amp Hour have?

The podcast currently has 745 episodes available.

The Amp Hour episodes:

March 05, 2012Reputable Radio Reification
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We're showcasing other podcasts this week and asking more about you, our listener! Please take the survey on our episode page!
New (or previously unannounced) Podcasts:
Engineer Vs Designer, a podcast about 3D printing, CAD and the conflict between engineers and designers. They have a competition in process to win a MakerBot Replicator.
IEEE Spectrum Podcast -- Host Steven Cherry talks to industry veterans in 10-15 minute clips about all manner of industry topics.
Story Collider -- A mashup of science and comedy, this podcast has a different person talking each show about funny stories involving science.
We'll add a section on the website for other podcasts we like
HAXLR8R is rolling! And we helped inform one of the participants! Tom from Boulder ElectroRide was accepted and is now writing about his experience on a new blog. Star Simpson, another member of the HAXLR8R program, is keeping a journal of her travels as well. Both are super interesting!
So glad that there are hardware startups...and people are starting to notice!
Lattice has a new logo...and it could mess up your ability to spot one of their parts until you learn the new logo. If you need to spot old logos, check out this site.
Dave's video about the anti static bag myth was passed down the chain by Element14 and they should be using the correct bags now.
BoredAtWork writes on the EEVBlog Forum about the silliness of pricing when it's just a software upgrade, but Chris and Dave understand the reality behind it. You need margin in order to work on next generation stuff!
Chris Anderson wrote a series on "Maker Businesses" and makes a similar point. You need to charge 2.4x your costs in order to maintain business! (i.e. $10 in parts means you have to charge $24).
Business Week writes about the true cost of low cost products: managers beholden to shareholders chasing the rock bottom prices will not have time and resources to focus on a good product.
Chris uses Dropbox to maintain CAD files across computers/platforms.
New web-based SPICE program available for the NerdKits guys. It's called Circuit Lab and has some great features!
This Week In Nerd History
In 1977, the first Freon-cooled Cray-1 supercomputer, costing $19,000,000, was shipped to Los Alamos Laboratories, NM. It was 133 MegaFlops. The A4 processor in an iPhone is 34 MegaFlops!
Chip of the Week
Dave likes the LT3600, a 15V, 1.5A Synchronous, Rail-to-Rail, Single Resistor, Step-Down Regulator (whew!)
Thanks to kafkan for the radio tower picture
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1h 5min
February 28, 2012An Interview with Bunnie Huang - Bunnie's Bibelot Bonification
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Welcome, Bunnie Huang!
Bunnie is the hardware designer behind the Chumby family of products.
He also wrote a book about his experience of Hacking the Xbox. He got a little help from some friends at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
He also recently released the NeTV, which was met with some DMCA resistance due to the method in which he injects pixels.
You can get chumby/NeTV hacker kits over at adafruit.
He gets to go to some of the electronics markets, such as the SEG market in Shenzhen.
Ian from Dangerous Prototypes went to the Japanese version of this market recently:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DHX2FruBog
While in the SEG market, you can even buy an iPhone schematic!
Bunnie discussed Moore's law (and the breakdown thereof) at the OSHW conference and we discussed on episode 61 of The Amp Hour (with Jeff!), around 20 minutes in.
We asked why he decided to use Marvell chips, as opposed to a more open chip company like Freescale (in relative terms).
Thanks again to Bunnie for taking the time to talk about his work and his philosophy on design. We hope you all enjoyed listening as much as we enjoyed talking to him! Please leave any unanswered questions in the comments and we'll try to follow up by next week!
Note: We changed the encoded volume of the podcast so we don’t blow anyone’s eardrums out when they jump from their favorite NPR podcast (Car Talk, duh) to ours or whatever else you’re listening to. Sorry if this has been an issue in the past.
Thanks to Joi Ito for the image of Bunnie
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1h 20min
February 20, 2012Aggravating Agersia Agiotage
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Lots of talk about CAD, Education, Startups and China today!
Sparkfun is having a soldering contest!
Just like paying for FedEx, people are almost always willing to pay for faster service.
Dave is working on his MakerBot directly after recording the show today.
Chris is off on a trip to go do a technology transfer on Monday. Dave has done this in Germany once before.
Mike Demler linked here from the new newsletter he's editing for Open Systems Media.
There's a new site called EE Forest that linked to us (or did at one point, looks like it might have changed).
If you liked Leslie Green's book mentioned on here a few weeks back, be sure to donate and support him.
MIT is offering their intro circuits course for free online...and you can get a certificate from it.
Dan Pink's eBook tells you to try doing things reverse of normal in order to innovate...Chris liked the education example.
Simon from the EEVblog forum found some fishiness with regards to Element14's adwords for KiCAD.
Chris is working on his own KiCAD design and has been using a written tutorial to get parts made and figure stuff out.
Erin (@RobotGrrl) did a great CAD comparison piece a few weeks back of all the different CAD programs.
She points people to Wayne and Layne's KiCAD tutorial.
Is the future of employment all freelancing? Chris thinks so (if US insurance gets a bit better). The HBR asks about "crowd sourced labor".
Do you work at a shared workplace...for your everyday job? What kind of place is it? How does it work for you?
The Sydney Hackerspace moved a little closer to Dave, who is now considering it a bit more. Jeff let us know he stepped away from the Austin space.
Age matters, even in startups (however, older = higher success rate). Both Dave and Chris still have a chance to be successful when they get older! ;-)
Chris got proper mad at the Mint blog for talking about investing in whiskey. Invest in people who are making stuff, folks.
Is there value in starting up domestic chip/electronics/PCB facilities in the event that things go very wrong in China? Protests are on the rise and there is (always) risk that something could go wrong.
Did we miss something? Did our ranting and raving this week get you as worked up as Chris was? Let us know in the comments!

Next week, Bunnie Huang will be on the show! (for real this time) Get your questions in now!

Thanks to Uwe Hermann for the KiCAD photo!
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1h 6min
February 14, 2012Vecordious Vacation Variorum
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Chris is back from Hawaii, and we are joined once again by Jeff Keyzer of Mightyohm.com.
All about Sabaticals, and trying to get out of working for a living :->
We ridicule a Spray-On Antenna in a can!
We are reluctant to mention a new reality TV show called Top Engineer. Before auditioning, be sure to check out Joe Grand's experience with a Discovery Channel reality TV show.
The Mythbusters are producing a show called Unchained reaction
Jeff doesn't quite like the new $1300 Cube 3D Printer from 3D Systems, because they ain't playing the open source game. But it seems all Dave's predictions are coming true.
Dave is having 2nd thoughts about doing a through-hole PSU kit
Dave rants about several things, as per usual.
Jeff is headed to the Computer History Museum to check out the Jim Williams exhibit.
Jeff like this new book: Analog Circuit Design: A Tutorial Guide to Applications and Solutions

Next week on the show, we’ll have special guest Bunnie Huang! Get your questions in for him ASAP!
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1h 9min
February 07, 2012Jersey Jeff Jactitation
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Whilst Chris is on his belated honeymoon, regular cohort Jeff Keyzer from Mightohm.com takes over.
Jeff has been travelling again:
He barely survived Berlin for New Years, what with their readily available fireworks, unlike Australia.
The Edison National Historic Park in New Jersey
Another surplus shop tour, including the TWR swap meet.
Will Detroit just make crappy cars again? or will they turn all Japanese?
Dave heard a big BANG on his desk, something smells fishy.
Jeff isn't too happy with TI's new MSP430 web based development environment
Will Raspberry Pie meet their $20 price target? Dave & Jeff think they might have a hard time.
There is a 6502 documentary in the works.
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1h 8min
January 30, 2012Otiose Ontocyclic Opiniasters
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Dave's choice of an Arduino as the brains of his new power supply is giving him strife.
They are manufacturing the 6502 again! Similar to how Rochester Electronics makes old parts.
"Programming (Hardware) is like sex: One mistake and you'll support it for the rest of your life!"
Chris is looking at a new project and considering new uC's and mp3 chips. Looked at Limor's (LadyAda's) Minty MP3 project and a few other projects people have done. Maybe MP3s aren't necessary?
People always have an opinion when it comes to programming!
The supply chain in the immediate area can affect electronics companies. Salary is a small part of keeping jobs "insourced".
Obama announced manufacturing initiatives as well, but are they realistic?
Dave was upset to learn about the true specs of the MCP4922.
What do you tell kids to study to be ready for jobs in 10 years? Dave got it right: whatever the field, be passionate. (Thanks to @Sheltoneer for the link)
Do the gray beards of SV have passion still? Why can't older engineers find jobs? Are there any "stable" engineering jobs?
If you can't find 'em, train 'em! Living Social is going to try and teach 24 software people from scratch. What criteria would be used to determine if you should teach someone hardware from scratch?
If you want to learn "startups" from scratch, check out Haxlr8r. You have until Jan 31st to apply for their hardware development program.
If you've got bare walls around your lab, Agilent is offering some fun posters (via reddit).
And by popular request from Dave, Weird Al's version of "I'll Sue Ya":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeXQBHLIPcw
Thanks to Windell Oskay for the flea market picture!
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1h 5min
January 24, 2012Ludibrious Luxating Layout
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Happy Chinese New Year! Find out how to say it on YouTube.
Or how to say it as a hardware engineer!
Dave wasn't able to get parts from AliBaba.
So is he a locavore now? Locatech? Ugh, terrible term. Dave's new boards are from NZ! http://www.pcbzone.net
Chris likes the LPKF S43, which can dispense solderpaste right after etching a board. If only he had 15k sitting around...
Looking at beginning a startup? Look at localized funding sources. The Cleveland Foundation is an example in Chris's hometown.
A new kickstarter campaign is looking to fund $30K in the next 7 days for a board cutter project. Is it lack of interest in this niche-ier piece of gear that prevents us from seeing an OSHW version of one? This one looks a tad expensive but quite accurate! Love the capacitive mechanism for board sensing.
The Open Source Ecology project has one on their roadmap. They were happy to hear from our expert listeners are now are looking for one more. Interested in helping with project management for the Universal Power Supply? Fill out the form below!
TI came out with a new chip that allows users to easily add WiFi to anything.
Dave got a creepy new webcam for his office.
Vendors continue to chase boundaries, such as switching speeds. Is millivolt switching a realistic goal for chips?
Chip makers also keep chasing 3D processes in their continuing quest for nano devices.
Kodak announced it's going into bankruptcy protection last week. They'll emerge as a niche player...because there's always a niche, no matter how bad!
On the EEVforum, "Aurora" clued everyone in to a free eBook available online about analog electronics from Leslie Green. Great resource!
Chris found out that Sergio Franco, author of one of his other favorite books, "Design with Operational Amplifiers and Analog Integrated Circuits" just released a new spiral bound book for a new class of his, "Analog Circuit Design: Discrete and Integrated".
Chris also found a copy of the 1987 Linear Technology Application Guide with AN1-AN21! What an awesome find! (though they're all available here)
Kent Lundberg (@DoctorAnalog) is reading all of Jim Williams' old app notes and adding commentary on his site, "Reading Jim Williams". Great to follow along!
We now have all of our files going through LibSyn! Let us know if you have any issues with it. Thank you so much to our donors!
Looking for a bit of fun? Check out these ridiculous "science" stockphotos.
Brad Lyster writes in about a tutorial about laser cutting a solderpaste stencil from KiCAD.
Dave likes being able to hold a proto or board in your hand. Chris wrote about how this is what keeps him motivated in engineering, just last night!

Thanks to Heidi & Matt for the Chinese New Year picture!
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1h 7min
January 17, 2012Alteritous Andy's Absquatulation
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Chris visited a FabLab today (not a fab!) to work on some projects and hang out with friends.
Chris has also been reading Neil Gershenfeld's book of the same name, FAB.
Melbourne had its first MakerFaire, though Dave was not able to go, unfortunately.
Dr. Howard Johnson offered rewards for finding errors in his book, much like Don Knuth did for his programming book.
Chris is officially a ham! His callsign is KD8RND! (Dave is warming up his vocal chords)
Do you prefer calling or emailing?
Andy--PhotonicInduction on YouTube--announced he's officially shutting down his YT channel (NSFW language possibly).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC-IYP1xjow
Dave got and has unboxed his MakerBot Thing-o-matic. Chris met one of the 3D printing competitors today from MakerGear.
This American Life on NPR had a great feature on how consumer products are made, specifically Apple stuff at Foxconn.
OpenCores is now taking donations for their development of an Open RISC processor.
Cory Doctorow had a good speech at 28c3 about the impending closing off of electronics systems in the future.
A process engineer managed to sneak some fun stuff out of a fab:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmrBs3BX9SQ
Dave is building a ArduCopter currently but new types of quads keep on getting released. The AR Parrot 2.0 has a 720P camera mounted on it and is only $300!
Friend and IT Guru Alan Garfield was miffed that MicroChip doesn't provide command line tools anymore. Are IDEs the only way, in the eyes of vendors?
Chris is making videos for the soon-to-be-released CEE (started on KickStarter)
Shonky Product of the Week:
The HojoMotor is a perpetual energy motor based on permanent magnets (how original!). The video is frigg'n hilarious! Watch it before the site is shut down! ;-)
Chip of the Week:
Listener Clifford Wolfe writes in about the LMC6042 because of the 2 fA (typ) input bias current for sensitive applications.
Chris also likes the LMP7721, which specs 3 fA typical (Chris mispoke, the max is actually 20 fA).
Dave and Chris like any chip that offers an upgradable option (through binning or otherwise)!

Got questions? Comments? Let us know below!
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1h 9min
January 10, 2012An Interview with Dr. Howard Johnson - Winsome Waveform Wizardry
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Welcome Dr. Howard Johnson!
He has published two reference books that are a must-have for the field of high speed signal propagation:
High Speed Digital Design: A Handbook of Black Magic
High Speed Signal Propagation: Advanced Black Magic
Howard hails from Twisp, WA.
Martin Graham, the co-author of his book, was also his longtime mentor at ROLM.
Howard teaches a class at Oxford every summer. He also teaches classes throughout the US, both in public and private forums.
He also has published articles regularly at EDN and other technical magazines.
Other things mentioned during the show:
Chris mentioned his article about Bell Labs and the Trickle Down Techonomy.
Howard mentioned how the Voyager Space Craft actually experienced some cosmic ray data corruption, though it doesn't happen often on earth.
As connectors get scale smaller, signals get better. However, on boards as traces get longer, they also need to get wider.
To continue increasing the speed of modern day comms, Howard believes we need to move to Multi-Level Communication (as we always do with every medium).
The limits of channel capacity are governed by the Shannon-Hartley Law (referred to as Shannon's Theory on the show).
In "The Early History of Data Networks" by Gerard J. Holzmann and Bjorn Pehrson (there's a "synopsis" here...), they talk about torches being used in single and multichannel modes.
Howard helped define the Gigabit Ethernet Standard (with no help from "Ernie"!)
Howard suggests "The Theory and Practice of Modem" Design, by John Bingham as a good starter text on the subject of encoding and data transfer.
If you need a place to talk about signal issues, check out the SI-list, part of freelists.org.
The IEEE EMC society also is a great place to meet other designers.
At EMC meetings, they often watch related videos, such as the ones on Howard's website!
Howard responded to silliness relating to claims of "skin effect in audio cables".
The 90 degree question: Is it wrong to make right angles on your board layout?
This rule was propagated by microwave designers who were designing with 120 mil line widths.
Your board already has tons of 90 degree turns...in the vias on your board.
It's the added material in a right angle turn (beyond the normal width of a trace) that can add parasitic capacitance.
We had a wonderful time talking with Dr. Howard Johnson. It was great getting to know the kinds of work he does and the kinds of signal integrity problems he works with regularly. Please leave any questions you might have about the show or for Dr. Johnson in the comment section.
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1h 27min
January 03, 2012Fremescent Floccose Fortification
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Happy New Year! We hope 2012 will be a great year for The Amp Hour and all of our listeners!
We have a new theme by Paul Stevenson! We love it!
Chris has a ham exam scheduled for next Sunday!
Dave has been chasing a hum at his new studios, he took a spectrum snapshot of it.
Chris has been preventing noise with his new "studio enhancement"
Acoustics is a whole field of its own, but is often coupled to electronics. The AES is actually the Audio Engineering Society, not the Acoustical as Chris thought.
Shoutouts:
Randall Munroe wows us again with his cartoon about mnemonics to remember science terms, including crazy ones for SI prefixes and resistor color codes.
A music/tech enthusiast made his old computer gear sing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w68qZ8JvBds
Devin linked to us and put up a section to discuss The Amp Hour on the newly created OpSoFo, a place to talk about OSHW.
Chris was contacted about a cool sounding job for testing analog chips. Do people want us to post jobs? No recruiters, of course.
More on the discussion about engineering education, including a discussion on the EEVblog forums started by "Pete in Texas".
Chris thinks we should have remedial tinkering classes in colleges for more academically minded students (Chris would have needed these classes).
The open source ecology project is looking for help designing their Universal Power Supply. If interested, please fill out the form at the end of this post. If you've never seen it, check out the TED video below.
Once your 50 top machines are done, why not try making a DIY 1GHz scope probe? Could save you LOTS of money.
Printing transistors could be a step closer with graphene suspended in polymer. Researchers at the University of Cambridge printed using a commercial printer.
If that's not quite your level, you can already print resist directly onto FR4 for making PCBs. There is a message board dedicated to doing this.
A new site talks about the downfalls of having 90 degree turns on your PCB. We'll verify with our guest next week, Dr. Howard Johnson.
This Week in Nerd History:
In 1813 in York England, many Luddites were convicted of destroying equipment in a factory; they believed it was responsible for job loss. 17 were put to death (yikes!) because it was a capital crime back then (Chris wasn't laughing at people dying, but the ridiculousness of the situation). Many others were sent off to the English prison island...now known as Australia. Will we see similar rebellion against robots and the taking of jobs in the future? Will there be next generation Luddites?
The EU is considering instituting engineering passport cards, so people can practice engineering in multiple countries. Do you think certifying engineers is a good idea?
The electronics industry is set to grow 2.2% in 2012, according to Gartner. Hopefully these "noisy" predictions aren't being used to cut jobs!
Looking forward to a great year! Please leave us some feedback in the comments section below!
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1h 7min

FAQs about The Amp Hour:

How many episodes does The Amp Hour have?

The podcast currently has 745 episodes available.

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