ELEC 3509 Fall 2011
Lab hints, tips and other information
to make both our lives easier.
Seriously, take this stuff into account.
ELEC 3509 – Fall 2011
• Course website
– http://www.doe.carleton.ca/~jrogers
• Lab manual
• Norman Fong (head TA)
– 3081 Minto
– nofong@doe.carleton.ca
• Lab website
– http://www.doe.carleton.ca/~nofong/ELEC3509
• Lab guidelines (read this!)
• Lab marking schemes
• Try to check this website at least once before each lab
ELEC 3509 – Fall 2011 - Labs
• Labs are worth 35% of your final mark
• You MUST pass the lab in order to pass the course
(even if you ace the midterm and final)
• You MUST hand in a satisfactory report for every
lab
– You cannot hand in a blank sheet of paper and “take a
zero” on a lab.
• Lab kits will be sold during the first lab
• Lab Plagiarism: Just don’t do it
– Zero tolerance! Automatic zero for both parties.
Lab Goals
• Everything you do in the labs and prelabs is
directly relevant to the course material and will
be on the midterm and final exams.
• Circuit building and design experience.
• More importantly, this lab is designed to teach
you to problem solve, work in a group and write
proper lab reports.
• As a 3rd year Engineering student you are
expected to be able to debug your circuit on your
own before calling over a TA.
Lab Guidelines
• Labs will be performed in groups of 2
• One report is to be submitted per group. Both students will be
given the same mark.
• Every lab will have a marked prelab.
– All or nothing
– Does not have to be 100% correct but reasonable effort must be
shown
• Every lab will have a marked checkout
– Your lab must be complete on time and in your designated lab section
• If you are knowingly going to miss a lab contact Norm prior to the
lab
– We can arrange an alternate lab day for you to attend without lateness
penalty
Lab Reports
•
•
•
•
Reports are due one week after the lab has been completed
They are due 30 minutes after the beginning of your lab session
Drop off in stairwell drop boxes outside 41xxME.
Late reports will lose 10% PER DAY.
• If you are knowingly
submitting your lab
late, contact your TA
immediately and an
electronic submission
may be accepted.
• It is ultimately YOUR
responsibility to have
your lab in on time.
Prelabs
• Every lab has a marked prelab
• The prelabs can be quite extensive. Don’t wait until the night
before to start them!
• You may be asked technical questions about your prelab to
verify that it wasn’t just copied
• The prelabs will be checked at the beginning of the lab (~first
30 mins)
• The prelabs typically include all of your design calculations
and hence you will not be able to start the lab until your
prelab is done
• You will likely not finish on time if your prelab is not ready at
the start of the lab
Lab Schedule
November
18
19
20
21
Lab 1
Week 1
22
Lab 1
Week 1
23
24
30
31
26
27
28
Lab 1
Week 1
Lab 1
Week 2
29
Lab 1
Week 2
30
3
4
5
Lab 2
Week 1
9
10
12
Thanksgiving
(no labs)
16
17
18
19
Lab 2
Week 2
23
24
Lab 2
Week 3
6
Lab 2
Week 1
11
26
7
20
8
University day
(no labs)
13
14
Lab 2
Lab 2
Week 2 Week 1
Lab 2
Week 3
25
8
9
14
15
21
21
22
17
23
12
18
19
24
25
26
Lab 4
Week 2
December
27
28
29
30
1
Lab 5
22
11
Lab 4
Week 1
Lab 5
15
5
Lab 3
Week 2
Lab 4
Week 2
Lab 4
Week 2
Lab 2
Week 2
27
28
Lab 3
Lab 2
Week 1 Week 3
20
10
16
4
Lab 3
Week 1
Lab 4
Week 1
Lab 4
Week 1
October
2
7
13
3
Lab 3
Week 2
Lab 3
Week 2
1
Lab 1
Week 2
2
Lab 3
Week 1
6
25
1
4
2
3
Lab 5
5
6
7
8
9
10
13
14
15
16
17
Last day of
Classes
29
11
12
Lab Tips
• Familiarize yourself with the breadboard
•
•
•
•
Utilize the upper and lower “rails” for your power supplies.
Intelligently place your transistors, resistors and chips.
Use short jumper cables instead of stretching out the pins on your device.
Try to lay out your devices to match the circuit diagram.
Lab Tips
VCC=15
V
Good idea
Bad Idea
Lab Tips
+
-
Lab Tips
• A potentiometer is a 3 terminal variable resistor which acts as a voltage
divider.
• You do not need to add another 1kΩ resistor to your circuit. The potentiometer
is the resistor.
Other Lab Tips
• Do not measure current directly on the
multimeter.
• Measure the voltage across the resistor
and use Ohm’s law (V = IR)
• Use “Diode” range to measure diodes
Lab Report Tips
• The report should be “stand alone”
– Readable without having prior knowledge of the lab
– Clear as to what your goals were, what you did, what
the results were
– Results are explained and discussed
– Do NOT just show your numbers
• Reports should be thorough but concise
– No strict format
• Label all plots and figures with appropriate units
• Stay in contact with your lab partner to make sure
everything’s done on time.