Electronic technician program needed

HAHA - good one...

 

i think we have a winner!

 

I think you do. And, strangely enough, I think it's the George Brown College (Canada) program, administered and co-marketed by Valencia College.

Why do I think so?

(a) Very similar content and mention that course is equal to a two year college program.
(b) Mention of "Our partner vendor," (un-named on the web-page) by Valencia College.
(c) The contact address: [email protected]. (I think the GBC stands for "George Brown College")

Whether it originates from GBC or not, it looks like a great course, great price, US-based and RA, as was needed. Superb find!

Johann

 

Yes - it has to be GBC-originated. When you click the "register here" button, you get a choice of this course or 3-4 other courses I know to be GBC distance programs.

--and that's a very good thing. Electronics does indeed work the same both sides of the border, as I said. :smile: The GBC programs are getting known as good value in the US and now, maybe some American students will be able to get TA for them - at US schools. Everybody wins!

Johann

 

Confirmation from the site: http://www.vcctech-gbc.com

"These learning programs were originally designed by George Brown College in association with some of the top corporate trainers in North America and are now delivered to students at affiliated colleges all over North America..."

YAY! :smile:

Johann

 

Gotta ask...what does an electronics tech DO these days?

There seems to be a modest demand in broadcasting I guess. Well, and telecommunications. But does anyone do anything requiring the component level understanding that used to be necessary?

 

They're mostly 75+ years old and build obsolete radios and 50s-style tube hi-fi amplifiers in their basements. :smile: I quite understand why you ask, Nosborne. Nobody gets their TV or boombox fixed, that's for sure... but, as I see it:

(1) There is tons of electronically-run auto/robotic machinery in factories etc. Assuming we still have some factories left, that is. Someone has to know how it works and be able to fix it. I just can't see how it would all be "remove and replace" as computers are.

(2) Go to a hospital - no, don't - but there's plenty of electronic equipment there. I doubt most of it is "throwaway" if it malfunctions - it's way too expensive for that! I'd figure technicians are needed to fix, calibrate, maintain a lot of complex equipment in daily use in health-care.

(3) Research in many fields involves complex electronics, in university and corporate labs. Someone has to keep that stuff rolling.

(4) I don't think the last electronic gadget has been invented yet. When new ones come along, someone has to build/test prototypes etc. It's not the best reference, maybe, but Wikipedia has a lot on what electronics techs do - it's here and I think it has at least some relevance.

Electronics technician - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cheers. :smile:

Johann

 

Repair medical equipment. You need a firm understanding of electronics to work on some devices. For others (anesthesia and vents) add in pneumatics which is what I specialized in a long time ago. You need to troubleshoot pretty well to fix an MRI, CT, or even a basic defib or IV pump. For some of the basic devices it is a repair at component level (like a blanket warmer) and a lot of wire tracing to find a problem.

 

Johann, great find on the Navy Electronics course material. I'll share this with my HAM radio buddies.

BTW, speaking of electronics training, at one of our HAM radio meetings not too long ago we had a electrical engineering (EE) professor stop by. He asked if our club could do a workshop on soldering. When we asked why and he said, "I have seniors graduating with degrees in electrical engineering, and most of them never even held a soldering iron."

I guess EE is all formulas and computer simulations of circuits nowadays....

 

Yes - I thought that might be the way it is, these days. I'm 71 and my interest in electronics is recently-kindled. I wanted to know how to build stuff, so my first purchases were a soldering iron and a multimeter. I was impressed by the thoroughness of the Navy Course, compared to any other free material I'd found, so I started with it. I've also acquired a Canadian HAM manual and I hope to write the licensing exam, once I've absorbed the material thoroughly.

I saw a good series on soldering on Youtube and my son is very experienced in electronics - so I have a good guide. For my first build, I made a simple FM radio that works pretty darn well, if I do say so myself. I hope to have built most of what I want by 90 - and I pray that I will still be able to hear it all work! :smile:

Oh yes - and speaking of computer simulations and the like - I have (free) software that makes my PC function as an oscilloscope - works through the sound card, apparently.

Johann

 

Where do you find it?

 

It's here. Soundcard Scope

I was looking for easy-easy projects involving health and electronics. I found this "ghetto pulse oximeter" on YouTube that uses not much more than two components - a phototransistor and an infrared LED. The notes have the link to the scope software. It's here: Ghetto pulse oximeter for your PC! - YouTube

BTW - The music is by the legendary German band, Kraftwerk (Powerhouse). Appropriately, it's "Elektro Kardiogramm." I liked Kraftwerk a lot in the 70s. Still do!

Johann

 

There are numerous other sources of free scope software and articles on how to use a PC as an oscilloscope. Here are a few. There are lots more:

How To Make A Free PC Sound Card Oscilloscope
oscilloscope free download
Winscope
Poor Man's Oscilloscope
GoldWave v5 Download

Johann

P.S. There is also a complete software-and-everything-else package for a PC oscilloscope in one of the Elenco Snaptronics educational sets. The set includes parts and manual for many experiments in which waveforms are analyzed with the PC scope. That company makes some dynamite no-solder educational stuff --and it's not very expensive either.

 

Randell, here's a link to the manual for the Elenco Snaptronics Set with the PC oscilloscope, so you can see how everything works. The set uses the Winscope freeware that I listed above. The kits are all non-solder, so they're re-usable for umpteen projects (or students). I think of them as "electronic Meccano." :smile:

http://www.elenco.com/admin_data/pdffiles/PK201.pdf

Johann

 

Reviving a pretty old thread here but I had to.... Johann, the fact that you found the NEETS modules very interesting definitely says something about your enthusiasm to learn electronics. Those modules are VERY informative but my-oh-my is that some dry reading! I read every one of those front to back several years back in preparation for an advancement exam... there was sweat and tears but I made it through. I also made E5 off of that exam.

The need for a true Electronics Technician does seem to be nearly a thing of the past. It's a shame, really. I got out of the Navy and was hoping to move on to bigger and better things (newer, more advanced electronics) but instead I'm more of a glorified parts changer. I would love to find a job component level troubleshooting again without all the underway time included!