# Eating An Elephant

- Show: [The Amp Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour)
- Published: 2015-12-04
- Length: 1h 21m
- Episode: 276
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-12-04-eating-an-elephant
- Listen: https://theamphour.com/276-eating-an-elephant/

## Summary

Michael of Programming Electronics Academy and Dan of Rheingold Heavy join Chris Gammell to discuss the mindset and practical steps for getting started in electronics. They emphasize overcoming intimidation by starting with kits or low-cost platforms like Arduino and Raspberry Pi, rather than getting bogged down in theory. The group highlights the importance of 'small wins,' troubleshooting failures, and using community resources to build confidence and competence in hardware design.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-12-04-eating-an-elephant#t=0) Introduction and Guest Backgrounds
- [4:28](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-12-04-eating-an-elephant#t=268) Overcoming Intimidation and Mindset
- [14:11](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-12-04-eating-an-elephant#t=851) The Value of Kits and Guided Learning
- [46:51](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-12-04-eating-an-elephant#t=2811) Exploration, Education, and Enjoyment
- [53:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-12-04-eating-an-elephant#t=3180) Troubleshooting and Resource Hunting
- [1:08:23](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-12-04-eating-an-elephant#t=4103) Starting with Soldering and Microcontrollers
- [1:16:38](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-12-04-eating-an-elephant#t=4598) Current Projects and Final Advice

## Topics

- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Prototyping & iteration](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/prototyping)
- [Debugging & failure analysis](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/debugging-and-failure-analysis)
- [Microcontrollers & dev platforms](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/microcontrollers-and-platforms)

## Most relevant to

makers and hobbyists

## Mentioned

- Programming Electronics Academy (company)
- Rheingold Heavy (company)
- Contextual Electronics (company)
- Arduino (product)
- Raspberry Pi (product)
- KiCad (tool)
- Oshpark (company)
- LT Spice (tool)
- DigiKey (company)
- Mouser (company)
- Hackaday.io (company)
- Open ROV (product)
- Mission College (company)
- The Art of Electronics (product)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [1: Start Tinkering](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2013-05-16-1-start-tinkering) (Embedded.fm)
- [Making It #018: All over the place](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/making-it/2015-04-24-making-it-018-all-over-the-place) (Making It)
- [S2E51 The Hardware Academy | John Teel](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2021-12-03-s2e51-the-hardware-academy-john-teel) (Being an Engineer)
- [35: All These Different Reasons Why You Might Want to Do Something](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-01-15-35-all-these-different-reasons-why-you-might-want-to-do-something) (Embedded.fm)
- [372: The Motivation of Creativity](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2021-05-06-372-the-motivation-of-creativity) (Embedded.fm)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-12-04-eating-an-elephant. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to The Amp Hour.