Available online
Description
The programme looks first at the principles underlying the systems approach to design, in this case a clock radio, and then goes on to look at simple D.C. circuit concepts.
The programme looks first at the principles underlying the systems approach to design, in this case a clock radio, and then goes on to look at simple D.C. circuit concepts.
| Module code and title: | T283, Introductory electronics |
|---|---|
| Item code: | T283; 01 |
| First transmission date: | 12-03-1980 |
| Published: | 1980 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:24:19 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | John Stratford |
| Contributors: | N. W. Heap; Glyn Martin; Alan Reddish |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Circuits; Clock radios |
| Footage description: | The programme opens with a dramatised sequence which highlights the similarities between a customer making a decision about what he requires from a product (a clock radio) and the designer deciding what he needs to design into that product. Alternating shots of a scene in a radio shop and of a designer at her desk. The programme goes on to formalise the parallel between the design and production processes. Commentary by Glyn Martin. He points to a board which displays the design and production processes. Alan Reddish explains how the designer makes early design specifications more precise by changing general functions into technical specifications. He points to diagrams on a board while he talks. Nick Heap with a dismantled clock radio showing the circuit, points out that the systems process on the design side is mirrored by the physical construction on the production side. Alan Reddish briefly discusses the final part of the design process, that of translating the components of the system into a circuit diagram and of building a prototype. Glyn Martin summarises the programme so far. He points to a systems diagram as he talks. Glyn Martin and Alan Reddish point out the need to understand the basic components of an electrical circuit with a water analogue in which a tube, pump and a restriction in flow model the circuit wiring, battery and resistor respectively. Heap then examines a simple electrical circuit and explains how current flow (amperes) and potential difference (voltage) are measured. An animated graph is used to plot readings. Glyn Martin, using an animated diagram together with shots of a control panel and transducers at a power station, examines the use of electric circuits to pass information from one unit to another. In this case the opening and closing of valves in the boiler/turbine system are examined. Nick Heap explains in detail how a potentiometer works and how it is used in a circuit to pass information from one unit to another. To end the programme, Nick Heap points out the need for an oscilloscope to follow rapidly varying signals. |
| Master spool number: | OU 3378 |
| Production number: | FOUT051S |
| Videofinder number: | 2652 |
| Available to public: | no |
