Dan wrote:

{para #2}
> Let's say he was asking how to get into QRP contesting. *COULD* he do
> it with some black-box amazon thing where someone else picked everything
> for him? Yes absolutely.

Remember, if 'we' deviate into HAM radio topics, I will be high biased in my opinion on the topic! :-)

Long before you go buying any 'black-box' whiz-bang toy on the Inter_webs (Amazon include) any half-dozen
number of experts will at least almost 2 dozen 'good' reason why that 'toy' is totally awesome or complete
junk!

But you still need to seek good advice ...

Join a local club and/or online forum to find out what should probably be avoided. The best advice is
to always 'under buy' (my opinion) as if you really like the mode and is not just going to be a *fad* in
passing. I will usually collect four different version of such a 'toy' anyway.

{ QRP contesting is pretty rough for the experts in the know and a soul burner for the normal everyone else ... }

{para #3}
> Would he learn more about it if he built his own kit? I'd argue that to be the case.

Maybe ... You might just get better at soldering. It takes extra effort to work though 'theory of operation' notes
and really learn stuff. But yes it is very do-able and I like kit building.

{para #4}
> Which is why I've asked him like 6 times now what his actual goal / plan
> with his current course of learning is.

At this point in his pilgrimage, it might be an unfair question to ask (it his response when he is ready to answer
of course). What *amount* of progress in learning new stuff will scratch the current itch?

I can answer for myself, on a slightly different topic: Am I smart enough to write a functional (some language) compiler?

At this point, *no*, in that I would be disappoint with what I could create. To me a 'useless' compiler that 98.973% of
everyone else would find redundant or useless might make me very happy. If what I had created got me past my current
learning blockage would be a win.

Example: a simple Pascal compiler that could create a binary exec that would run in Motorola 68K emulator would be cool!

That would mean I had figured out how to tie together a syntax parser (flex), a language token 'AST' tree (bison),
a code generator and a symbol table. (I think)

73,

David
--
David - KC4ZVW
Chuluota, FL
https://www.kc4zvw.org/


> Sent: Thursday, August 08, 2024 at 8:28 PM
> From: "Dan Purgert via Dng" <dng@???>
> To: dng@???
> Subject: Re: [DNG] Help needed - - running into issues with python and its tools

> On Aug 09, 2024, David Billsbrough wrote:

>> You wrote:

>>> If you're already using Arduino, you'll already know C/C++ (or at least
>>> be familiar with it), and all you're doing is learning how to interact
>>> with the micro-controller.

>> Dan,

> > I have seen the Makerfaire (Maker Lab members) types using Arduino's UNO's to do projects that
> > do NOT know how to program in the 'C/C++' language. That they simply cut and paste someone else
> > Arduino sketch verbatim into the Arduino IDE and install some optional library files per the
> > 'cookbook' documentation of prior project and upload the compiled output to the target board.
>
> Yeah, so students using a tool geared toward students doing things that
> may be a little beyond them. That's not exactly a negative for it on
> the whole (they'd do the same with Circuit Python; so it's not exactly a
> resounding "use that" either)
>
> Let's say he was asking how to get into QRP contesting. *COULD* he do
> it with some black-box amazon thing where someone else picked everything
> for him? Yes absolutely.
>
> Would he learn more about it if he built his own kit? I'd argue that to
> be the case.
>
> Which is why I've asked him like 6 times now what his actual goal / plan
> with his current course of learning is.
>
> --
> |_|O|_|
> |_|_|O| Github: https://github.com/dpurgert
> |O|O|O| PGP: DDAB 23FB 19FA 7D85 1CC1 E067 6D65 70E5 4CE7 2860
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