# Tugging on the Nerd Heartstring

- Show: [The Amp Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour)
- Published: 2025-12-06
- Length: 56m
- Episode: 710
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2025-12-06-tugging-on-the-nerd-heartstring
- Listen: https://theamphour.com/710-tugging-on-the-nerd-heartstring/

## Summary

Dave Jones and Chris Gammell discuss the evolution of test equipment, highlighting Rigol's aggressive pricing and custom ASIC/FPGA strategy with the MHO 900 series oscilloscope, which has disrupted the market by offering high bandwidth at a low price point. They also cover high-end corporate events like the Tektronix launch by Raliant, the tele-operated 'Neo' humanoid robot, and the debate surrounding 'faking it till you make it' in hardware startups like Nikola. Finally, they touch on rapid prototyping innovations like Stephen Hawes' Lumen pick-and-place and fast PCB methods, alongside general industry commentary on AI tools and podcasting.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2025-12-06-tugging-on-the-nerd-heartstring#t=0) Introduction: Dave Jones and Chris Gammell return from holidays
- [6:19](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2025-12-06-tugging-on-the-nerd-heartstring#t=379) Tektronix/Raliant Event: High-end corporate launches and new scopes
- [15:43](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2025-12-06-tugging-on-the-nerd-heartstring#t=943) The Neo Robot: Tele-operation and 'faking it till you make it'
- [24:11](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2025-12-06-tugging-on-the-nerd-heartstring#t=1451) Rigol MHO 900 Series: Custom ASICs, FPGAs, and market disruption
- [42:31](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2025-12-06-tugging-on-the-nerd-heartstring#t=2551) Fast Prototyping: Lumen pick-and-place and Stephen Hawes' methods
- [51:37](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2025-12-06-tugging-on-the-nerd-heartstring#t=3097) AI Tools and Industry Commentary: Zephyr, LLMs, and podcasting

## Topics

- [PCB design & layout](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pcb-design)
- [Analog & power electronics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/analog-and-power-electronics)
- [Chips, FPGAs & semiconductors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/chips-and-fpgas)
- [Test & measurement](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/test-and-measurement)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)

## Most relevant to

large enterprises, founders before launch

## Mentioned

- Rigol (company)
- Tektronix (company)
- Raliant (company)
- Siglent (company)
- Keysight (company)
- Rigol MHO 900 series (product)
- Neo (product)
- Lumen pick-and-place (product)
- Stephen Hawes (other)
- Opnialo (company)
- Nikola (company)
- Theranos (company)
- NVIDIA (company)
- Zephyr (other)
- Gemini 3 (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [The Spark Gap - Episode 9](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-spark-gap/2014-08-12-the-spark-gap-episode-9) (The Spark Gap)
- [044 - Scots Army Knife](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/unnamed-reverse-engineering-podcast/2021-01-03-044-scots-army-knife) (Unnamed Reverse Engineering Podcast)
- [454: Printf Hello](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2023-07-06-454-printf-hello) (Embedded.fm)
- [How PTG Electronics Wins in Low Volume, High Mix, Mid-Complexity Manufacturing, with CEO Nick Wasserman](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ems-c-level/2026-07-07-how-ptg-electronics-wins-in-low-volume-high-mix-mid-complexity-manufacturing-wit) (EMS@C-LEVEL)
- [309: Nature's Engineers](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-11-08-309-natures-engineers) (Embedded.fm)

## Citing this page

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