My Official Introduction, and What Role to PIC MCUs Play in Your Lives?

[rxforspeed]

Greetings to all-I figured that this area of the forum would be the best place to post a little bit of information about myself and to lay the foundation of why I'm here and my intended usage of Microchip's PIC microcontrollers in the coming future...

First off, I'm from a technically isolated part of the United States-Northeastern Kentucky to be exact. There's literally nothing to do in this area regarding not only work, but also entertainment and social gatherings unless you're an alcoholic and spend your mornings, afternoons, evenings, or all of the above at any of Ashland's fine establishments including, but not limited to: The Eagles' Lounge (bar), VFW (bar), any restaurant (99.9% are equipped with bars), or any bar/grill in the neighboring areas (Huntington, WV and Ironton, OH). Since I'm not a drinker, I prefer to stay on a computer or keep my nose buried in a book so I can learn as much as possible on the subject of programming PIC MCUs, electronics, and technical advancements in the automotive area (which has been my love and hobby from and early age)...

Some information on my background includes, but is not limited to: years of welding, fabricating, mechanical construction/repair/customization, CNC plasma table operation, installation of custom and aftermarket auto products (from simple audio/video auto installs to more complex mechanical and electrical pneumatic adjustable suspension with digital control/display products), and-in the past year or *slightly* over, I've become quite fond of building electronic circuits and working on *mastering* microEngineering Labs' PICBasic PRO language for PIC MCUs. I have never had previous experience with Basic Stamps, PICaxe, etc.-after buying and mostly completing a MegaSquirt II V3.0 engine management system for my Series 2 "GSL-SE" "clone", first generation Mazda RX-7, I had accumulated MANY books on reading diagrams/schematics, basic electronics, "101 Spy Gadgets for the Evil Genious" (by author Brad Graham-check out his website at www.atomiczombie.com), and other books related to electronic circuits and PIC programming.

After realizing the potential of these microcontrollers (or mini-computers-in-a-chip as I have to refer to them to the technically-challenged members of my community), I have gathered a great deal of ideas for future products that I hope to develop and complete in the near future, in hopes of starting my own business.

Seeing as how I would still consider myself a "noob" (as I'm sure most of you guys and gals would too), please forgive me if I ask a seemingly stupid question from time-to-time. I have read through this forum, used the search feature (even the "Google" site search feature-which is bookmarked on my notebook), read through COUNTLESS datasheets for not only the PICs I own, but also the ones I plan to own in the near future and all ICs, transistors, and other components I currently own and plan to own (and all those are saved on my notebook for quick reference), read both the PBC and PBP manuals (you'd think my PBP V2.50b manual was a student's textbook with all the highlighted sentences and bookmarked pages that I constantly refer to, which I've read from front to back at least twice so far), and I own and have read through two books I bought from melabs.com by author Harprit Singh Sandhu, "The Lab-X1 Tutorial" and "Making PIC-based Laboratory Instruments and Controllers" (I have yet to complete either book, due to the fact that I have a pet peeve of re-reading paragraphs/pages/chapters until I completely understand each idea and lesson or example presented, and I can't bring myself to read past a sample code section/segment if I can't actually get it to perform properly or don't understand even the smallest aspect of it). I'm currently working through these and, with the help of my local library, I should have a wealth of information at my hands to further assist in developing my skills as a progressing PIC programmer.

Thanks again to Skimask-this time for recommending "The Art of Electronics" (from another post in a different section of this forum), which I've found on Amazon.com for a *hefty* sum. I'll purchase and read that book entirely just as soon as I receive the extra funds to acquire it.

I currently have a few projects "up my sleeve" that I plan on asking for a bit of help with here and there, so all help, direction, and criticism from all forum members is not only welcome, but greatly appreciated.

To be blunt, I have absolutely NO formal training in any electronics field (except for installing central office equipment in Ma Bell's offices and Nortel-specific telephony switching equipment, but their schematics/diagrams are closely-guarded secrets-we were only given "cable tags" to connect the various equipment together and the purpose of each individual component was also "hush-hush" secretive). I consider myself an intelligent individual and am a quick-learner, but everything I know and have learned about this field has been self-taught. This is going to change in the near future, though, since I have enrolled at the local community college for this coming spring semester for (first) an Information Technology course (computer networking), then I plan to continue my higher education until I have (at least) a degree in Electronic Engineering, and possibly another in Mechanical Engineering-but the Electronic Engineering is a top priority at this time.

Forgive me for the short novel about my background, I just wanted to introduce myself to anybody interested in reading this-especially the members of this forum that could really assist me in the development and finalization of my projects. From what I've seen so far, this is a VERY helpful community and I'm proud to become a part of it.

**One quick question to anybody that has taken the time to read (or glance over) this thread: What role do Microchip's PIC MCUs play in your lives? Are you just a hobbyist (as I am at the current time), a designer/engineer for a big or smaller company/corporation, do you have your own programming-based business that contracts work through other companies/clients, or something entirely different? I don't need to know any personal information, I'm just trying to find out where I can fit in (preferrably in my own business-whatever it may become) once I become proficient and understand more about my newest love and hobby...

Again, thanks to all who can help, guide, direct, teach, or inform me of anything beneficial relating to this subject...

Sincerely,
-Adam R. Collins